


didn’t think it would be like this

by Trebleclefstories



Category: Grey’s Anatomy
Genre: + the one time Alex finally did, 5 Times, 5 times people found out jo was pregnant, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Karev Kids, Merjo friendship, Pregnancy, everyone knows before Alex, jolex, jolex babies, pregnant jo Wilson, season 16 AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26170732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trebleclefstories/pseuds/Trebleclefstories
Summary: 5 times other people found out Jo was pregnant before her husband and the 1 time Alex finally finds out
Relationships: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson Karev, Amelia Shepherd & Jo Wilson Karev, Atticus Lincoln & Jo Wilson Karev, Jackson Avery & Jo Wilson Karev, Meredith Grey & Jo Wilson Karev, Miranda Bailey & Jo Wilson Karev
Comments: 65
Kudos: 111
Collections: The Group Chat's Fics





	1. I [Meredith]

She felt like crap. Complete and utter crap. Her head was throbbing and her muscles were aching. She felt tired and weak. To top it all off, she was dizzy. Probably dehydrated too. And those things were not a good combination when you were partaking in a six hour surgery. There were only ten minutes left, though. She just had to get through they next ten minutes. Ten unbearable minutes where she felt like she might vomit in her surgical mask before she closed. 

Never once had she experienced so much relief to step out of the OR. Feeling her head spin, she made her way as quickly as she could down to the attendings lounge. Finding it empty, she grabbed the trash can and pulled it beside the couch as a precaution, before she flopped down in exhaustion. She doesn’t know how long she was laying there with her eyes closed but at some point, she fell asleep. She woke to someone’s hand on her forehead, checking her temperature. Looking up, she locked eyes with Meredith Grey who sported a concerned expression on her face.

“Jo, are you okay?”

“Not really,” she grumbled.

“You look like crap.”

“I feel like crap.”

Meredith stared at her for a moment and extended her hand out to the younger woman, “Come with me.”

“What? No. I think I’ll pass out if I get up from this couch. I’m not moving.”

“Come on Jo, humor me. Just get up so I can test you. It’s either that or I’ll call Alex.”

She sat up from her spot on the couch quickly, “No don’t tell him. He’ll just hover and freak out and I can’t deal with a worried Alex right now because my brain feels like it’s going to explode.”

They make their way to an empty exam room where Meredith then proceeds to swab her throat, nose, and draw blood. She has an intern take it down to the lab and tells them to put a rush on it. They wait for about twenty minutes when the intern returns. Meredith takes the papers from the intern and sends her away as she looks through the labs. Finally seeing what she had suspected all along, her face breaks out into a grin.

“What is it? Don’t tell me I’m just dehydrated or something. Because if I find out all I needed to do to feel better was to drink more water then I might scream.” Jo asked.

“No you’re not dehydrated,” Meredith shared. “Well, at least you’re not only dehydrated. That may just be one of the symptoms. As well as what looks to be anemia.”

“I’m anemic? Since when? I’ve never been anemic before.”

“Well it’s quite common in pregnant women,” Meredith stated.

It takes her a second to process the words coming out of her mentor’s mouth. She’s not sure if she heard correctly, “Meredith, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying, that you’re pregnant. And judging by your hCG levels, I’d say somewhere between 9-10 weeks.” 

“Oh. My. God.” Jo’s eyes began to water as she looked back and forth between the paper and Meredith’s face. “I’m pregnant?”

The older doctor smiled at her best friend’s wife, “You’re pregnant.”

“I’m having a baby?”

Meredith chuckled, “Yes, Jo. You’re having a baby.”

Jo beamed, “I’m having Alex’s baby.”

“Haha, yes you are.”

She jumped up and gave Meredith a hug as tears streamed down her face, “Alex is gonna be a dad! I’m gonna be a mom! Oh my God, I’m going to be a mom. Oh God, Meredith I’m freaking out. What if I’m no good? What if the kid hates me? I never had a mom. I don’t know the first thing about raising a kid.”

“Hey calm down,” Meredith rubbed the younger woman’s shoulders. “You are going to be fine. First of all, your baby daddy just so happens to be a highly successful pediatric surgeon who knows his way around kids. And second, you are going to be a wonderful mother. I know that because I see how you are with my kids and young patients. You’re loving and funny and attentive. You will know exactly what to do.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I lived it,” Meredith stated. “You know, you and I are more alike that we’d like to admit. I see so much of myself in you and I know how you feel because I had those same fears before we adopted Zola. I had a horrible mother, and I was scared that I would be a bad mom. But you know who helped me overcome that fear? Alex. He encouraged me to be happy about something I had never thought would be in the cards for me. And when I almost lost Zola, he fought like hell to make sure I got her back. I never thought I would fall in love and have children. I was so messed up from what had happened to me that I was scared to want those things. But something happens when you see your kid for the first time–whether it’s a sonogram or adoption–when the rest of the world fades away and you know in that moment that you don’t belong to yourself anymore, but this kid that you don’t even know. So don’t let your fears steal the joy of becoming a mom.”

If you asked her later, she’d say it was because of the hormones. But Jo found herself tearing up at Meredith’s words. She embraced the woman who had become the most unlikely friend tightly before taking a deep breath, “Thank you Meredith. If I had to find out about this with anyone, I’m glad I found out with you.”

“You’re welcome,” Meredith smiled cheekily. “So how are you going to tell Alex? Can I be there when it happens? I want to see if he’ll pass out.”

Jo laughed cheerfully, “I don’t know... he just started working here again a few days ago but he got a call that somethings up in Iowa, so he’s supposed to be heading out there this weekend. I don’t know if I should tell him before because if I do, he won’t want to leave, and he may cancel the trip and what if his family really needs him? But if I don’t tell him before he leaves, he might get mad at me when he comes back and realizes I knew before he left. What do I do?”

Meredith sighed, “I don’t know. If there’s one thing I know about Alex, is that he will drop everything for the people he loves and the people that need him. So if you need him here, he will be here. But if you think that you can go a week without saying anything, then let him go take care of what’s going on.”

“You’re right. Okay. I’m going to wait. I can keep a secret. I’ve done it before. What’s so bad about keeping this happy life-changing secret to myself for a few more days?”

“Twenty bucks says Alex is going to end up being the last person to know.”

“Oh, you’re on.”


	2. II [Amelia]

“Something’s different about you.”

“What?” Jo turned around to see Amelia Shepherd staring at her curiously.

“I can’t quite put my finger on it yet but, I’m sure that something is different about you.” Amelia narrowed her eyes and chewed on her lip before turning to leave the nurses station.

She released a breath she didn’t know she had been holding when the neurosurgeon walked away. She didn’t know if it was possible, but did pregnant women have some secret power that helped them detect if another woman was pregnant? She had only found out yesterday. She hadn’t spoken or so much as looked in Amelia’s direction before Amelia noticed something was up. She didn’t have a baby bump yet, so there was no way you could tell she was pregnant. She wasn’t puking or dizzy today. And she wasn’t pale or tired. She felt like herself. She felt fine. But yet, Shepherd noticed something.

She’s snapped out of her thoughts as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist pulls her into a warm embrace. She turned around and smiled at her husband lovingly, “Hey I missed you last night.”

“I know, I missed you too. I hate being on-call,” Alex grumbled.

“No you don’t,” Jo shook her head. “You live for those kids. Doesn’t matter the time of day, you’re there.” 

He shrugged, “Eh. It’s my job.”

She rolled her eyes, “Just take the freaking compliment. You are a wonderful person, a great surgeon, a super sexy husband, and one day you will make an incredible father.”

He huffed out a laugh and gave her a sweet kiss, “I love you.”

“I love you more,” she replied. “Oh! I wanted to ask you, how long do you think you’ll be gone? I know you didn’t buy a return ticket yet because you won’t know the situation until you get there, but I have something exciting... that I’m... doing and I want to share it with you, but once I tell you, you might not want to leave.”

Alex’s face grew somber, “I don’t know when I’ll be back exactly. Depends on how things go over there... why don’t you just tell me now?”

“Like I said, this thing is so exciting and you’re gonna be so happy for me that you’re gonna want to celebrate and help me prepare for it. But your family needs you, so go and see them and come back quickly so I can share my news with you and you can be excited with me and help me see it through,” she beamed up at him and was met with a curiously fake smile. Just as she was about to say something about his lack of enthusiasm, her pager went off. “Trauma in the pit. I’ll see you later. Let’s try to get lunch together?”

Alex who had been lost in thought looked up at his wife, “Yeah sure. I’ve got a surgery at 10am, but if everything goes well I should be done by noon.”

She said goodbye and hurried over the the ER. When she arrived she hurried and ran out the to ambulance bay with Hunt, Nico, and Amelia, “What do we got?”

“Motorcycle accident. Apparently he was trying to avoid hitting a kid who ran into the street and ended up slamming into a concrete post,” Owen filled her in. 

The ambulance arrived and they rushed the young man into the trauma room, stabilizing his injuries in hopes of getting him into CT to see how severe the damage was. As they waited for the films to come up, Jo could feel eyes staring at her once again. Looking in the direction of the stare, she saw Amelia’s eyes on her, “Why do you keep staring at me?”

“I know there’s something different about you,” Amelia continued her observation. “You didn’t dye your hair, but it looks shiner. And your skin looks incredible, but I don’t think that’s what it is...”

“Gee, thanks?” Jo furrowed her eyebrows. “Is it so hard to believe that maybe I just look good today?”

“Eh,” Amelia shrugged.

Jo glared at her playfully, “Just focus on the scans. We need to get this guy up to surgery as soon as they come up. I’m pretty sure he’s got some massive internal bleeding.”

Sure enough, they guy had a ruptured spleen, a liver lac, and a severely bruised kidney. He also had a massive brain bleed and multiple fractures in his legs. The surgery was intense but successful. The next twenty-four hours would be crucial in determining whether or not the patient would make it. She was making her way out of the scrub room when her phone chimed. Looking down at the text she groaned, Got held up in surgery. Tumor was more complicated than expected. Don’t think I’ll make lunch. 

Behind her, someone spoke, “What’s wrong?”

Turning, she saw Amelia removing her scrub cap. She shook her head, “Nothing. I was gonna have lunch with Alex today, but he got held up in surgery.”

“I’ll eat with you,” Amelia smiled. “I was just about to head over to the cafeteria myself. Link is in surgery, Meredith is at the mommy-daughter lunch at Zola’s school, and Maggie is out at a conference so I was hoping to crash someone’s lunch table.”

Jo grinned, “Okay let’s go.”

The food in the cafeteria wasn’t the greatest. It wasn’t horrible, but it definitely wasn’t something she craved. Normally, she had no problem eating the food. She had grown up with next to nothing. She knew better than to waste food. But when she sat at the table with Amelia, she scrunched her nose up at the food in front of her. Something smelled terrible and was making her nauseous. She brought a hand up to her mouth and made a face as she forced the bile that was threatening to come up, back down. It was the steamed broccoli. Moving the broccoli off her tray, she slid it over to Amelia, “Do you want my broccoli? I just can’t today. The thought of it is making me sick.”

Amelia gave her a strange look, “What? No thanks. I haven’t been able to eat steamed broccoli since I got pregnant. Used to love it, but the smell makes me want to gag. Raw broccoli is fine though. Just throw it out if you don’t want it.”

Jo made a face as she pushed the broccoli as far away as she could and place a napkin over it in hopes of concealing the smell. Seconds later she heard gasp from across her, “What happened?”

“You’re pregnant.” It was a statement not a question. 

Jo’s eyes doubled in size, “What?”

“That’s what’s different about you! You have the mommy glow. That’s why you look different. The estrogen is doing wonders for your hair and skin. You look hot. If I weren’t happily in a relationship with Link, I’d totally hit on you. Plus the food aversions. Those are always a sign.”

Jo laughed awkwardly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Amelia rolled her eyes, “Please. Don’t try lying to me. You’re pregnant! Our kids are gonna be best friends.” 

“Okay, yes I’m pregnant, but keep your voice down,” Jo hushed. “I just found out yesterday. Meredith is the only person who knows. She took the blood sample for me. I haven’t even told Alex. So please, don’t tell anyone.” 

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I won’t even tell Link.”

“Thank you.”

They spent the reminder of their lunch hour talking about their pregnancy fears and bonding over their impending motherhood. It was nice to have a person to talk to that was going through the same thing you were going through. Jo smiled throughout the conversation. When it was time to go, she made Amelia swear once again to keep her mouth shut.


	3. III [Jackson]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the kind words & reviews. Now, I will have you know that this story is not all fluff. There’s actually quite a bit of angst, as you will be able to see in this chapter.
> 
> I’m not exactly sure how long Alex was gone before anyone knows what happens, so I decided to make up my own timeline. Yes, Alex is MIA in this story, but I promise things will not work out as they did in canon!

It had been weeks. Two weeks and four days to be exact. Since she had seen Alex. Three weeks since she found out she was pregnant. It had been two days since she and Meredith sat in the OB’s office and she saw her baby for the first time. She had been hoping her first ultrasound would be with Alex, but he was nowhere to be found. So instead, she held Meredith’s hand and cried when she heard the heartbeat and saw the outline of the tiny life inside her. She smiled and laughed with Meredith as the doctor told them how big the baby was at this stage. She joked around with Meredith about baby names and debating placing a bet on the sex of the baby. Seven years ago, she never would’ve thought she’d be in this position—having a baby—much less experiencing all her pregnancy firsts with Meredith Grey. 

This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. She was supposed to be doing this with her husband. Instead, he had stopped returning her calls. He wasn’t answering her text messages either. It had been four days since heard anything from him. For the past four days it had been radio silence. He wasn’t picking up anyone’s calls. Not her’s, not Meredith’s, not Bailey’s. The only thing keeping her sane was seeing the read receipts on his text messages, but he must have figured out who to turn them off because sometime in the last twenty-four hours, the read receipts had disappeared. So she was worried. Not that he was dead in a ditch somewhere, though. She was worried about something that scared her more than death. 

So that’s how she found herself sitting on the steps in the stairwell crying after having left Alex an emotional voicemail about how she’d jump in front of a bear for him. She had been there for about fifteen minutes when she heard the door open behind her.

“Oh hey, Jo! I’ve been looking for you. I paged you a couple times but you didn’t answer,” Jackson said as he walked down to where she was sitting.

She tried to discreetly wipe the tears from her eyes, “I’m sorry, I’ve just... distracted today. I must’ve spaced out and forgotten to check my pager.”

She must’ve not done a very good job at covering up the fact that she was crying because she hears Jackson’s concerned voice, “Are you okay?”

She cleared throat before croaking out an answer, “Yeah I’m fine.”

“No. You’re not,” he states. “You’re crying. What’s going on?”

All her efforts to keep her composure flew out the window there. Her body racked in sobs once again. She feels him sit next to her and put a comforting arm on her shoulder. He rubs her back for multiple minutes, until she’s able to steady her breathing, “I’m sorry. I just... Alex isn’t answering my calls. Or Meredith’s. And all I can think is that I’m the husband who jumped in front of a bear for the wife who was sleeping with someone else. What if he reconnected with an old flame and is laying in her bed right now? Or what if it’s that he’s dead and no one can identify him. Because why wouldn’t he answer me? He said he was going through something and I get it. But he’s been gone for more than two weeks and for the past four days I haven’t heard anything from him at all. He was supposed to be back three days ago. He was supposed to be here. I’m not supposed to be doing this alone.”

“Hey,” Jackson soothed. “You know Karev loves you more than life itself. I mean, who proposes to someone four times and marries them twice if they aren’t completely in love with that person?”

She let out a little laugh, “Yeah. I guess you have a point... it’s just... this is supposed to be a happy time. We’re supposed to be doing this together and experiencing every moment together, but instead I took Meredith with me to my first ultrasound.”

Jackson’s eyes widened, “You’re pregnant?”

“Crap! Please don’t tell anyone. It’s supposed to be a secret but everyone keeps finding out. The only people that know are Meredith because she was with me when I found out and Amelia because she can sense other pregnant women. Alex doesn’t even know yet.”

“Wait, you haven’t told him?”

She shook her head, “I was going to tell him. But then he said he had to go to Iowa. I knew if I told him, he wouldn’t want to leave and his family needed him. At first it was only a week, then two. Every time he texted me or called me it latest less than five minutes and he sounded stressed. He was supposed to come back three days ago but I haven’t heard anything in four days. So instead of going to my appointments and experiencing all the pregnancy firsts with my husband, I’m all alone.”

“You are not alone,” Jackson reassured. “You have a village here. A family. You are not going through this alone. You have a husband who’s going through something right now and probably just needs some space. Karev isn’t always the best when it comes to talking about his feelings. And you have all of us. You said so yourself, Meredith and Amelia both know and now I know. As long as you’re here, you won’t ever be alone, not unless you choose to be.”

She smiled timidly, “Thanks. For listening to me unload everything. And for being there... It really means a lot.”

“Of course,” he nodded. “Oh, and coming from a guy who found out that he was having a kid from someone other than the mother of my child, don’t take too long to tell him. I know you don’t want to tell him over the phone, but don’t let him hear it from someone else.”

“Well, he’d have to answer my calls first but, yeah I’m already 12 weeks. I have to tell him before I start showing and the whole hospital knows before he does.”

“Yeah that would not be good,” he chuckled. “Well, I’m gonna go get something to eat but I just wanted to let you know that the wife was asking to speak to you. Are you up for it?”

“Yeah,” she released a shaky breath. “Yeah. I’ll go talk to her.”

“Okay,” Jackson watched her get up from the staircase and walk out the door into the hallway. Waiting until she was no longer close enough to hear anything, he pulled out his phone and scrolled down his contact list. Alex Karev. He clicked the name and dialed, waiting as the phone kept ringing. Unsurprisingly, the call went to voicemail. Sighing he decided to leave a message. “Hey man. I don’t know what it is you’re going through and I’m sure you’re busy, but you need to call Jo. Just let her know you’re alive and coming home soon. She needs you. She’s going through something right now and a few of us are doing our best to help, but it’s not the same. Whatever it is, isn’t as important as this. Trust me when I tell you, you need to come back. So come home already and answer the damn phone.”


	4. IV [Link]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m LOVING all the reviews. It honestly makes my day to see people so invested in this story. Here is part 4 of this series. Not gonna lie, you might not like me after this one, but trust me, it’s going to get better. It’s just got to get worse before it gets better. 
> 
> I’ve already got the majority of the next chapter written so hopefully I will be able to post that tomorrow evening. I also already know how I’m going to fix the travesty that was 16x16 so just hold on a little while longer!

She couldn’t breathe. She was positive she was going to suffocate. The air was trapped in her lungs and she couldn’t do anything to get it out. It had been three weeks and two days since Alex left. Four weeks since she found out she was pregnant. She was thirteen weeks pregnant and sitting in the loft distraught. She had arrived home not too long ago and realized that once again, Alex wasn’t home. She felt defeated and confused. She was hurt and scared. 

This morning she noticed that she had the tiniest little bump on her belly. She had immediately FaceTimed Meredith and Amelia, gushing with excitement at her barely perceptible belly. It was such a sweet and tender moment but the absence of her husband hung heavily throughout the conversation. She had gone to work that day with a little less pep in her step. She was supposed to be happy and announcing her pregnancy to the rest of her friends and coworkers. Instead, she had left Alex three more voicemails in hopes that he would finally listen to them and respond. In a last ditch effort, she finally called Helen Karev. Imagine her fear when she heard that everything was fine, but Alex had never shown up in Iowa. 

And that’s how she ended up searching her home for any sign that Alex might have left for good when he had packed up his things. The majority of his clothes had been left behind. Including his favorite Iowa State T-shirt that she often wore when lounging around the house.  _ He wouldn’t leave without that shirt. It’s his favorite shirt. He’s had it for twenty years.  _ She reassured herself. His iPad was still sitting on the coffee table in the living room. His favorite mug was in the cupboard. The blanket he had since they met was folded on the couch like always. His weight lifting equipment was untouched. Finally, she decided to look in the nightstand. His chargers were gone, as well as the book he had been reading, but that was normal. The journal that her therapist had instructed him to use whenever he felt overwhelmed by her mental status was also gone.  Okay, he probably just needed a break. He’s probably out camping in the wilderness and doesn’t have cell reception so that’s why he’s not answering. He just needed a mental health break. 

The absence of none of these items was suspicious. It was the presence of one particular item that made her blood run cold. She almost missed it, too. It was so small and deeply hidden in the drawer of the nightstand that she had to do a double take to make sure it was really what she thought it was. Reaching her hand in, she pulled out the one thing that had the ability to destroy her. It was his ring. The ring he had worn so proudly over the last few years. The ring that he never took off, unless it was to scrub in for surgery. _ He left his wedding ring. _

The sob that escaped her throat scared her. She gasped her air as she searched around for her phone.  _Meredith. I need to call Meredith._ Her heart was racing and her stomach churned at the thought of the words she would be forced to say when the older woman answered the phone. Just as she was about to dial the number, there was a knock at the door. She froze, dropping the phone back on the couch before rushing to yank it open. Her heart sunk when she saw Link standing in her doorway. 

She doesn’t exactly remember all that happened after that, but she knows she must’ve been crying because suddenly, Link had enveloped her into a tight hug. It was nice. Link always gave great hugs. But it wasn’t Alex. It wasn’t her husband. He left her. He left her and didn’t say anything. He left her and didn’t leave any clues. He left her and didn’t say goodbye. He left her with no warning.  _ He left me and now I’m having a baby. His baby.  _

“You’re having a what?” Link exclaimed, interrupting her thoughts.

She ripped herself from his embrace, “I said that out loud?”

“Yes. You’ve been mumbling for the past five minutes,” he confirmed sadly. 

She laughed dryly, “I’m pregnant. Thirteen weeks to be exact. And he doesn’t know, because he left before I could tell him. He wasn’t supposed to be gone this long. He was supposed to be back by now. He lied to me. He never went to Iowa. I talked to his mom. She’s fine and he’s not there. He’s gone. He left his wedding ring. He left me. He left me with a _baby_.”

Link furrowed his eyebrows, “You don’t know that for sure. He would never want to hurt you on purpose. You know why he was so cold to me when he found out I knew you back in college? He asked me if I knew about Paul and why I didn’t do any more to protect you. He wasn’t jealous. He was looking out for you. Not just in the way a husband would, but the way a best friend would look out for you. When it comes to you, all bets are off. He’d move mountains, fight whoever he needed to fight, just to ensure you were okay.”

“I know he loves me. I know that. He’s shown me that so many times. But if he didn’t leave me, that means he’s either dead or lying in some hospital on life support because they can’t identify him. And I don’t know which one is worse. Wherever he is, whatever he’s doing, doesn’t make it any easier or any better. No matter what the situation is, he’s gone,” she said defeatedly.

Link sighed, “Okay. You know what? You’re not going to stay here alone tonight. Pack a bag  for a few nights.”

She did as she was told and got into the car. She stared out the window for a while before falling asleep. She was jolted awake maybe fifteen minutes later. Link had stopped the car and was opening the door for her. She walked up the familiar porch steps to Meredith’s house. Being there was easier than being alone at the loft, but this house was where it all began. It was full of bittersweet memories of the early stages in her and Alex’s relationships. 

Meredith was standing in the doorway, waiting for them as they walked up. She wrapped the young woman in her arms and guided her up the steps as Link followed closely behind. They entered Meredith’s bedroom and Jo sat down on the bed. Link tucked her in and sat on the edge, “Hey. Look at me.”

She moved her gaze from the ceiling to look at her oldest friend, “Yes?”

“You are going to be okay. Brooke was always strong. A bit of a mess at times, but strong. Jo Karev on the other hand, isn’t just strong, she’s powerful too. She’s resilient and resourceful and tough and has the biggest heart, but the best thing about Jo Karev is that she’s got a family that loves and supports her. So, you are going to be okay, because you’re going to have me and Meredith and apparently Amelia and Jackson, helping you. No matter what happens, you have us. I’m going to go home now, and get some sleep, but not before saying a little prayer for you, the baby, and Alex. Get some rest, I’ll come by tomorrow after work and Amelia and I will watch a movie with you.”

Just like that, Link was leaving and Meredith was climbing into the bed next to her. Meredith turned on her side to face Jo, “So, you are going to stay here with me for a little while. Link is going to go by your house to pick up the mail and water your plants everyday. And you’re going to take tomorrow off. I will call Bailey and tell her that you are not feeling well and I am going to stay with you. Link will come by tomorrow evening to sit with you.” 

She nodded sleepily and closed her eyes, desperately willing herself to fall asleep. Somewhere in her unconscious mind she heard Meredith’s voice once again, “ _You need to answer the phone. You are scaring us. Please be okay and please come home. I need you. Jo needs you. And we’re worried. I’m worried, and not just for you but for her too. She’s not okay, Alex. She’s got a lot going on and she’s currently sleeping in my bed so please come home and be with your wife_ .”


	5. V [Bailey] + a few others...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is definitely the longest chapter so far. I am so excited for you to read it! Now this definitely is where things start to diverge from canon in some major ways. Still very angst-y though. I didn’t realize how much I loved writing angst until I started writing this fic, and let me tell you, it’s probably one of the works I’m most proud of. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this! Be sure to leave comments and reviews on what you think happened to Alex...

Another week passed and still no sign of Alex Karev. She was fourteen weeks pregnant and her bump could still be concealed under her scrubs. She hadn’t popped yet and for that she was thankful. For the most part, you couldn’t tell she was pregnant if you didn’t already know. Sure she was more emotional and her face and breasts were a little rounder than before, but she wasn’t as tired or sick as she had been during her first trimester. Work was a wonderful distraction for the fact that she hadn’t seen her husband in five weeks. 

She was just getting off a 36-hour shift when she decided to make a detour before going to Meredith’s house. She had been craving ice cream for the past two days and decided to reward herself with a quick trip to the grocery store. She was standing in the frozen foods isle when she came across Dr. Bailey reaching for some fruit bars. “Hey chief! Long time no see.”

“Karev! I’m guessing we both had the same idea. That transplant today was exhausting and I thought I’d indulge in a something sweet—but healthy of course.”

Jo chuckled softly, “Yeah I’ve been craving cookies and cream ice cream for days so I finally decided to come buy it. If I’m lucky, the kids will be asleep and I won’t have to share.”

“You still staying with Grey?” Bailey asked.

She sighed, “Yeah. The house is just... too quiet without him. I can’t sit there in our bed every night wondering if tonight’s the night that I’m going to get a call to come and ID a body. Or worse, come home to find divorce papers in the mail.”

Bailey looked sympathetically, “Look, I am not about to repeat what I’m sure you’ve heard a million times in the past few weeks about Alex Karev and how much he loves you and wouldn’t leave you... instead, I’m going to tell you that you are allowed to feel any and every emotion. It is your right. And if you need a day to just feel, you let me know. You can take that day, because when you are in the OR, I need you focused and sharp and passionate. So you let me know what you need to get you there and it’s yours.”

Jo’s eyes watered a bit at the sentiment, “Thank you Dr. Bailey. That really means a lot.”

Just as Bailey was going to respond, they were disrupted by a loud crash. There was a scream and a shuffle coming from the next aisle, prompting the two of them to go investigate. There was a young girl who looked to be about fifteen struggling against a man twice her size. He had her wrist tightly in his grip and kicked her in the ribs. For Jo, it felt like ice water had been poured down her neck. It took seconds for her to jump into action. In the background, she could vaguely hear Bailey’s voice telling her to stay out of harms way, before proceeding to dial 911. None of those things could distract her from trying to protect this young girl from an abusive man. 

It all happened in a blur. Somehow, she successfully separated the girl from the man and sent her over to Dr. Bailey, who still seemed to be on the phone with the police. Then his attention turned to her. Luckily, she had experience with this kind of thing. Jo fought and she fought hard, as the man tried desperately to grab ahold of the teenager again and run with her. But she wouldn’t allow it. Jo was a force to be reckoned with; even while pregnant. She would be the woman she needed all those years ago. 

What she didn’t count on, however, was the man having a knife. She felt it before she realized what had happened. The knife entered her side and twisted before being yanked out. She gasped in pain and attempted to get out of the man’s way. She wasn’t fast enough, though. In a span of a few seconds, she had been stabbed in the shoulder, back, and upper abdomen. Somehow, someway, she managed to get ahold of the man’s shirt and pushed his head into the concrete wall, knocking him out. 

She slumped down onto the floor and gasped as she tried to get a handle on all the bleeding. Bailey rushed over to her and yelled at the young girl to come help put pressure on Jo’s wounds. There was a frenzy of people that hurried over to offer whatever help they could as Dr. Bailey instructed them to go get something to absorb the blood and wait for the paramedics and police. Finally, after handing out roles, Bailey looked at the young woman laying in her arms, “Karev. Karev. Jo! Look at me. I need you to look at me right now.” 

With glassy eyes, Jo turned to face the woman, “It hurts.”

“I know it hurts, honey. The ambulance is on its way. You need to hold on so we can get to the hospital and fix you up. Okay?”

“Okay,” she coughed. “How’s the girl?”

“She’s right here, Jo. She’s helping me put pressure on the stab wounds. She’s okay. She’s safe. You saved her. You are so very brave.”

She began to cough again, but this time blood came up. She gasped painfully, “I think he punctured my lung. It’s getting... harder... to breathe.”

“No. No. You just have gotta take some deep breaths for me. The rig will be here in two minutes and they will have oxygen and then we’ll be on our way to the hospital.” 

Jo shook her head. She could feel herself becoming weaker and weaker every passing second. She sighed. She knew what she had to do, and with Bailey being the fifth person to know, she knew she would definitely owe Meredith money now. “Dr. Bailey... I need you to call Meredith, because I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose consciousness very soon. She can explain to you what’s going on... I’m fourteen weeks pregnant. Please... please try your best to save my baby,” her eyes finally shut as she succumbed to the blood loss. 

Bailey’s heart dropped as she took Jo’s last words before losing consciousness. She looked down at her and noticed the small swell of her belly—so small she wouldn’t have noticed unless she would have known. Not much time had passed since she had lost her own baby, and she was determined to do everything her her power to make sure that Jo would not have to experience that pain. But Jo was losing a lot of blood. The stab wounds had been deep and Bailey was convinced that she had massive internal bleeding that would require many long surgeries.

The next few hours were rather hectic as they got Jo out of the grocery store and into the OR. Hunt and Pierce were operating on her with Carina Deluca monitoring the fetus, as Bailey made a few calls and spoke to the police and press. She heard her name being called from across the ER and turned to see Meredith, Amelia, and Link rushing over to her.

“What the hell happened?”

“Where is she?”

“When can we see her?”

“We were in the grocery store when Karev decided to be a hero and save a young girl from her kidnapper. Police said she’s been missing for the past eleven months. Girl decided to fight back today and escape and Jo helped her. She’s currently being operated on in OR 3. Hunt and Pierce are doing the repairs and Deluca is monitoring the fetus. Her injuries are critical. You can see her after surgery. Link, I need you to go check on the victim, she’s got rib tenderness and an injured wrist that need to be checked. Helm is currently doing the work up on her. Shepherd, I know you want to help your friend but there is a man in bed 7 who needs a neuro consult.”

Both Link and Amelia nodded and left to go do what they were told. Meredith looked at Bailey with a concerned expression on her face, “You know.”

“She told me just before she lost consciousness and said that I needed to call you. How long has she known? Does Alex know?”

“We found out five weeks ago. A few days before Alex left. I did a blood draw and told her. He doesn’t even know she’s pregnant. He was only supposed to be gone for a week, so she wanted to wait until he got back because you know he would drop everything as soon as he knew she was pregnant. But he said he was going to Iowa to his family so she wanted him to go there and be with them. But Bailey, he never went to Iowa. She called his mom. He’s not there. We have no clue what happened to him.”

Bailey rubbed her hand over her face, “I swear... these two are trying to give me another heart attack. And now I have a third Karev to worry about...”

The hours spent waiting for Jo to get out of surgery we’re long and tiring. Finally, Hunt, Pierce, and Carina Deluca emerged from the OR to find many of the surgeons huddled around waiting for an update. Owen took a deep breath, “The stab wounds were deep. She had a punctured lung, a liver laceration, her appendix ruptured, and there was significant damage done to her intestines. We had to take out one of her kidneys because there was just too much bleeding. I was able to fix most of that and Pierce was able to repair the lung, but she coded on the table three times. We have no idea what that might have done to her brain function, but her heart is under a tremendous amount of stress. She’s in critical condition. I’m not sure when or if she’ll wake up.”

Deluca stepped up, “The fetus is still alive, but the fetal heart rate is definitely lower than normal at this stage. I’m worried about placental abruption as well as well as possible heart defects in the fetus. It seems as though the knife may have nicked the uterus because the amniotic sac seems to be losing fluid. I would recommend calling a maternal-fetal surgeon to come do an emergency consult. I am out of my depth here.”

“She’s in the CCU right now. You guys can go see her. She’s in room 217,” Maggie shared. 

They made their way up to the CCU where Jo was connected to various machines working to keep her alive. No matter how many times Bailey had seen people connected to vents, seeing one of her own, one of her doctors was never easy. She and Meredith stood outside the room while Link, Amelia, and Jackson—who had heard about the accident from one of his interns—sat around Jo’s bed. Bailey looked over at Meredith, “We need to call Addison Montgomery. I know she might prefer Arizona but, LA is a lot closer than New York and she needs someone to come check on her right now.”

Meredith nodded, “I’ll have Amelia make the call... we have to make sure she doesn’t lose this baby, Bailey. We have no idea what happened to Alex. If he doesn’t respond by the end of the week I’m going to file a missing persons report. Even though he left willing, it seems. She found his wedding ring in the night stand... I don’t even know what that means at this point. I’m not sure I want to know. She can’t lose Alex and lose this baby. It will break her. She’d be a suicide risk. Her mental state is too fragile for a blow like that. She needs a reason to live and a therapist should things go bad.”

Bailey agreed, “We are going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen but her injuries are extensive. I don’t even know if there’s anything Addison could do for her at this point should things start going south. But we are going to try like hell to make sure it doesn’t happen... who the hell stabs a pregnant woman four times? All for helping a teenaged girl get away from her kidnapper.”

“A sick person, that’s who,” Meredith sighed. “How’s the girl?”

“She’s got a couple of broken ribs, a badly sprained wrist, and possibly some splenic bleeding. Gonna keep her overnight for observation. The police are trying to locate the parents and ask her to identify herself, but all she wants to know is how the young woman who saved her is doing.”

“I get it,” Meredith shrugged. “I would, too. Maybe you can bring her to see Jo tomorrow morning, once she’s got some rest... if it’s alright with you, I’d like to take the day off. I’m going to stay here tonight. Jo shouldn’t be alone. She’s family.”

“Of course,” Bailey waved her hand. “Take a couple days off. She’s going to need you now more than ever. I will try to get ahold of Karev and see if I can find him. If she doesn’t improve in the next few days, some decisions will have to be made.”

Meredith frowned sadly, “I know... she can’t die, Bailey. I may have already lost Alex. I can’t lose anymore friends. I’ve lost too many people in my life and I’m determined to hold onto everyone I’ve got left.”

Doing something that was so out of character for the both of them, they embraced. It was a comforting hug, full of fear and sadness, but also hope. Hope that Jo would make it. Hope that the baby would survive. Hope that Alex would come home. They separated, Meredith joining the others in Jo’s hospital room and Bailey walking down to her office. As she entered the office she once gave up to Alex Karev, she was reminded of the little hope she’d had for him in the beginning. Never would she have thought that Karev would be the one that surprised her. She never thought he’d be the one she was the most proud of. It didn’t matter that he didn’t run fancy European hospitals or win prestigious awards. What she was proud of was his heart. The way he cared not just for his patients, but those closest to him. He had grown up into a wonderful human being that honestly made her tear up when she reminisced. 

And that’s why, like so many of the others, she reached into her pocket for her phone as she sat down at her desk. She went to her favorites in her contact list and clicked on his name, praying that he would answer. Instead, it went straight to voicemail. She sighed, “ Alexander Karev, you better be dead or close to it or so help me God, I will make sure of it when you return. You told me once that you are the man I raised you to be, so show up and be that man right now because there is a woman here who needs you. Jo is hurt. Now I won’t go into the details until you come and see her for yourself, but you need to come home right now. You need to be the man that is willing to go to prison to protect his wife’s anonymity. You need to be the man that loves his wife so much he’d go to the ends of the earth to be with her. You need to be the man that recommits himself to his wife after she experienced a major mental break. You need to find that man again and you need to be him. You took vows; in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health. Well right now is a bad time and right now is sickness, but sickness and bad times do not last forever. So, come back and show me that you are the man I thought you were.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I told you it was gonna be kind of a wild ride. Things got very serious very quickly. Let me know your thoughts and suggestions for the next chapter! It is going to be the longest chapter out of the entire story so it will take me a bit longer to finish writing and editing. I hope to have it up by this weekend.
> 
> Also, make sure to go follow me at iamtrebleclefstories on tumblr for more content. I’m always down to write something from my prompt list!


	6. Pt. 1 [Alex] - sort of...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mer. Please tell me she’s alive. Please tell me she didn’t die. Please tell me I’m not too late.”
> 
> “She’s still alive,” she stated. “But you need to come home, because we don’t know if she will be for much longer.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I realized that my Alex chapter was going to be extremely long so I’ve decided to break it up into smaller chapters. This is part 1 of Alex coming back. I am not sure how many parts I will split this one into but, rest assured that I am working very hard to finish this story. 
> 
> Thanks again for all of the kudos and kind words. Happy reading!

The past month had been difficult, to say the least. He was utterly and completely exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. Yesterday had been especially difficult. So much had happened that he didn’t want to even process right now, but he had no choice. There was no escaping this thing. He was stuck with the reminder of these difficult days for the rest of his life. It wasn’t all bad, though. He had grown and developed parts of himself that he wasn’t entirely sure existed before, and for that he was grateful. 

It had been five weeks since he had seen his wife and he was itching to just hold her and cry. He wanted to sleep in his bed and pull her close and just feel her soft, steady breaths as she slept next to him. But he knew things wouldn’t go back to normal like that so instantly. There was a lot he had to explain. A lot of sorry’s he had to say and people he had to apologize to. Then there were the unexpected consequences of his leave of absence. Bailey was for sure gonna kill him for going off the grid for a month after he had just been rehired as co-chief of pediatric surgery. 

He turned his phone off three weeks ago and hadn’t turned it back on since then. There was just too much going on her. Too many big things happening for him to be distracted by his desire to get back to Seattle as soon as possible. He had to be here. He had to be present and attentive. It was only right. It was only fair. He owed them that much. He owed them his undivided attention, especially considering what had been lost. But it was over, in a sense, and finally after weeks of not speaking to his friends—his family, he plugged in his phone and waited for it to turn on. 

The first thing he noticed were the countless missed calls and text messages that made him sign in guilt. He was an ass for not letting anyone know if he was okay, he knew that. But it was just too hard. He couldn’t be here and there at the same time. He needed to be focused. He began to read the messages and decided to go through the voicemails. 

_ Some were from  Jo : _

_ “ Hey baby, I’ve tried to call you a few times today but you haven’t answered you’re phone. I went to the airport to pick you up because you were supposed to come in this evening, but you never showed. I went to the counter to see if you ever checked into your flight and the airline said no, that you never got on the plane. Is everything okay? Please let me know what’s going on. I want to help. Love you. Bye.”  _

_ “Hi Alex. It’s Jo. You know, your wife? Please call me back. Something is wrong and I understand if maybe you don’t want to talk about it right now, but please know that I’m here for you no matter what. I miss you.” _

_ Meredith: _

_ “Alex! You need to answer the phone. I am worried about you, Jo is worried about you, even Bailey is worried. I need my person right now. And Jo needs her husband and best friend back. We got some things going on right now and we need you. So please, pick up the damn phone and call us back. Also, Zola says that you promised to help her with her science fair project and she wants to show you her plans based on the idea you gave her a few weeks ago.” _

_ Jo: _

_ “Hey, Alex. I–I need you to call me. I need to hear your voice. I need to know what’s going on. Whatever it is...” her voice breaks and she cries in the background. “Whatever it is, I need to know. I wanna know... because I would jump in front of a bear for you, Alex. Please call me.” _

_ Jackson : _

_ “ Hey man. I don’t know what it is you’re going through and I’m sure you’re busy, but you need to call Jo. Just let her know you’re alive and coming home soon. She needs you. She’s going through something right now and a few of us are doing our best to help, but it’s not the same. Whatever it is, isn’t as important as this. Trust me when I tell you, you need to come back. So come home already and answer the damn phone.” _

_ Jo: _

_ “Did I do something? Are you mad at me? I know I haven’t been the most attentive wife lately, but I love you and I miss you so come home please.” _

_ “Performed surgery with Hayes today. He’s a cool guy. Good surgeon. Not as good as you, but I’m a bit biased, I think. I miss being in the OR with you. It’s been a really long time since we were in the OR together and idk, I guess I just want us to do it more often. Bring me in on your cool cases. It’ll be like when we first got together. Well, not really got together... because let’s face it, we were a bunch of idiots back then. But, you know what I mean. You’re still the best teacher I’ve ever had. Grey may be winning prizes and Bailey may be making millions with her colon-thing whatever it’s called, but you taught me how to be a good doctor. Someone who cares and advocates for my patients. You always gave me opportunities to grow and get better. So please come back, because even though I’m an attending now, I still want to learn from you. I love you. Call me back. Bye.” _

_ “You can say it you know. You can say that you’re done and that you’re not going to return. Isn’t it better to just be honest than make me worry? Because for all I know you’re dead right now and I’m talking to a dead man’s voicemail. But if you’re not dead, you better have a hell of a good reason for all of this. Because if you aren’t dead yet, I just might have to kill you... I’m sorry. I’m tired and upset. And I can’t sleep alone. It’s not the same without you here. Come home.” _

_ Meredith:  _

_ “ You need to answer the phone. You are scaring us. Please be okay and please come home. I need you. Jo needs you. And we’re worried. I’m worried, and not just for you but for her too. She’s not okay, Alex. She’s got a lot going on and she’s currently sleeping in my bed so please come home and be with your wife .” _

_ Cristina: _

_ “Evil Spawn! They say you are ignoring your phone but I thought, ‘hey it’s been a minute since we had a good talk, he wouldn’t miss my call.’ So imagine my surprise when I go straight to voicemail. Like, how rude? You realize that we care about your wellbeing? I care about you. You’re probably rolling your eyes at me right now, but I don’t really care. I mean I do care, just not about— whatever, you know what I mean. You need to answer the phone. Who else am I gonna call to gloat and make fun of? On a serious note, please be alive. Or be dead. Because if you’re gorked, I still technically am your power of attorney—even though you went and got married... and I don’t want to have to make those decisions or fight with hairball about the decisions we’d have to make. Anyway, I hope you’re okay. Call me back. Bye.”  
  
_

_ Link: _

_ “Look, I know we’re not close and you don’t owe me any explanations about anything, but you told me once that I should’ve protected Jo, so that’s what I’m doing. I’m being her big brother right now, so you and I are going to have a conversation when you get back. There will be some things we’re gonna go over and one of those things is the art of communication. Yeah I know, both you and Jo suck at it, but guess what, that stops now. No more running off or staying in bed all day or drinking yourself into a coma or taking off your wedding ring when things get tough or messy. Because you two are the definition of tough and messy, and if anyone can do it, it’s you. So please be alive and come home.” _

_ Arizona: _

_ “Alex! Meredith tells me that you haven’t been answering their calls, but I thought I’d give it a try since I’m all the way in New York and we haven’t had a chance to speak in a while... but obviously you don’t care enough to speak to your beloved mentor. I hope you are okay. I’m worried. I miss you. Maybe you and Jo can come visit soon. Sofia wants to see Uncle Alex and talk about how she wants to be a peds surgeon like him—I think she forgets that I started out as peds... and Callie sends her love!Call me back. Love ya, bye!” _

_ Richard: _

_ “Karev! Where the hell are you? We keep getting some very interesting peds cases and you are no where to be found. The new peds co-chief Hayes has been taking all the cool cases. We miss you. Get back and show him who’s boss. Don’t let his fancy Irish self take credit for all the work you did to build this program. Oh, and call your wife. She’s worried about you and she’s been acting strange recently” _

_ Jo: _

_ “Hi. I know you probably won’t listen to this, but I miss you. I keep calling your phone just to hear your voice before the voicemail tone. I had a great day today. I did a multi-organ transplant with Bailey and I’m completely exhausted. I’ve been up for the past thirty-six hours. I’m on my way to the grocery store now to get some ice cream. I’m thinking maybe Oreo... I’ve been craving it recently. Hopefully the kids will be asleep when I get home so that I don’t feel bad for telling them they can’t eat ice cream after 10pm. Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m staying at Meredith’s. The loft is too quiet and empty without you. It’s too cold without you there. Oh and, I uh–I found your wedding ring in the nightstand. I don’t know what that means, but it can’t be good right? I keep praying every night that you will come home safely and be okay. That you’re alive or out there somewhere just waiting for me to come pick you up. But i don’t know... I don’t know if I want to be with someone who doesn’t want me... anyway... I’m going into the store now. Goodnight. I love you.” _

  
  


He wasn’t going to lie. That message was a hard one to hear. To think that she thought he didn’t want her hurt him. If only she knew how much he loved her. He had said it so many times. He had shown it, too. He proposed four times and married her twice, for God sakes. But recently, he had been a lousy husband. It was just another think on the list of things that made him feel so lousy and useless. 

He was about to return Jo’s call when he realized that there was one more voicemail. He looked at the person who left it and almost ignored it, so he could hurry up and listen to Jo’s voice again. But he stopped, figuring it was only fair to listen to this one considering it was his boss and he had ignored all of her calls and text messages. He wasn’t sure if he’d have a job waiting for him when he returned. He almost wished he didn’t listen to it. Because then he wouldn’t have known, and he could’ve gone back to Seattle without this horrible sinking feeling in his chest. It was this last voicemail that caused him to feel sick. 

_Bailey:_

_“Alexander Karev, you better be dead or close to it or so help me God, I will make sure of it when you return. You told me once that you are the man I raised you to be, so show up and be that man right now because there is a woman here who needs you. Jo is hurt. Now I won’t go into the details until you come and see her for yourself, but you need to come home right now. You need to be the man that is willing to go to prison to protect his wife’s anonymity. You need to be the man that loves his wife so much he’d go to the ends of the earth to be with her. You need to be the man that recommits himself to his wife after she experienced a major mental break. You need to find that man again and you need to be him. You took vows; in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health. Well right now is a bad time and right now is sickness, but sickness and bad times do not last forever. So, come back and show me that you are the man I thought you were.”_

He was sure he was going to have a heart attack right then and there. He had never received a call that instilled so much fear into his heart, and that was a lot, considering the past month he’s had and the countless things that had been dumped on his plate recently. He immediately dialed Meredith’s number in hopes to get an explanation as to what was going on. It rang a few times before she answered, “Alex! Is that you?”

“Mer! What the hell is going on?”

“Oh thank God,” he heard her breathe a sigh of relief. “You’ve had us worried sick. Where have you been? Are you hurt? Do you need me to come get you?”

“What? No. I’m fine. Mer, what’s going on with Jo?”

“Do you have a tv where you’re at?” She asked.

“Yeah I do,” he furrowed his brows. “Why?”

“Turn on the news. The story made national headlines. It’s playing on all the major news sites right now.”

He put the phone on speaker and set it down on the coffee table in front of him as his turned on one of the National news channels. He turned the volume up as a reporter stood outside Grey Sloan, “ _ We’re coming to you live here from Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, where it has been confirmed that fifteen year old Amanda Seller, who was kidnapped eleven months, has been freed from her kidnapper. Seller and her story made national news all those months ago when she was taken by a man who has been identified as thirty-seven year old Gregory Willis while on a school field trip in Chicago. Police say that Willis would continuously move states to keep authorities off his trail and would not allow Seller out of his sight. His plans were foiled, however, when Seller was able to escape from his grasp with the help of a heroic doctor. Let’s go to Lacey with more on that .” _

_ “ Thanks Tim, as you can see I am standing outside of Goodwin’s Grocery store where the event took place. Witnesses say that Seller decided to take her opportunity to escape while in the crowded supermarket, hoping that someone would realize who she was and come to her aid. And let me tell, you, someone did. Store security footage shows a young woman, fighting off Willis and pushing Seller to safety. Now, the name of the woman in the video has not been released yet, but sources say that she is a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and sustained significant injuries during the scuffle.” _

The frame switched back to Tim, who seemed to be receiving some sort of information, “ _ Reports are coming in as we speak and an inside source just revealed that the woman who saved Seller is in fact a surgeon at Grey Sloan. She was stabbed multiple times and is currently in critical condition as a result of those injuries. No further information has been provided at this point in time. We are waiting for the chief of surgery to issue an official statement regarding Amanda Seller’s progress as well as that of our hero doctor _ _.”_

Alex felt like he was stuck in slow motion. On the screen played the security video, showing his wife running to the girl and trying to release her from the kidnapper’s grasp. He watched the struggle between her and the man and good feel the bile rising up in his throat. The video ended just before the man stabbed her, the news site deeming it too sensitive for general viewing. He swallowed, hoping to push some of the bile back down as he picked the phone back up. He grabbed it and spoke, voice cracking, “Mer. Please tell me she’s alive. Please tell me she didn’t die. Please tell me I’m not too late.”

“She’s still alive,” she stated. “But you need to come home, because we don’t know if she will be for much longer. It’s really bad Alex. She was stabbed four times and each one did significant damage. The kidnapper knew what he was doing. He knew his way around the anatomy. She lost so much blood, she coded three times on the table. He was aiming to kill.”

He let out a sob he had no idea had been building underneath the surface, “I should’ve been there. I should’ve been there to help her. God, Mer, if she dies I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” her own voice sounding tearful. “Just worry about getting here and being by her side. I’ll stay here until you get here.”

“Thanks. I owe you. I owe you so much. I’m coming. Hopefully, I can be there within the next ten hours. Call me if anything changes.”

“We’ll be waiting for you.”

*****

Meredith had just hung up the phone with Alex, when Bailey walked back into the room. She stood up from her chair at Jo’s bedside, “Bailey! He’s alive. He got your message from last night. He’s coming home.”

Bailey let out a large sigh, “Oh thank you Jesus! Oh thank God... okay it’s all going to be alright he is on his way home. Did you tell him what happened?”

“Yes. Well most of it,” she looked down at the injured woman beside her. “I don’t think I should be the one to tell him about the baby. She should do it.”

“And how the hell do you plan on doing that,” Bailey raised her eyebrows. “The woman is unconscious. Addison Montgomery is being escorted up here as we speak to see if she needs to perform surgery as we speak. What do you want to do? Hide her from him?”

Meredith shrugged, “I don’t know... yes? Anyway it’s not like he’s coming right now. He said he would be here in about ten hours or so. It’s 8am now, so that’s... somewhere around six o’clock this evening. I assume he’s got to pack and try to catch a last minute flight out of wherever he is—which he still didn’t tell me where he’s been this whole time. So if Jo needs surgery, we have Addison do it before he gets here.”

Just as Bailey was going to open here mouth, the door of Jo’s room slid open. Amelia walked in with Addison close behind. Before she knew what she was doing, Meredith had gotten up and given Addison a tight hug. Addison rubbed her back comfortingly as Meredith whispered, “Thank you for coming.”

“Of course,” Addison nodded. “So, this is our hero woman that everyone has been talking about. She’s one of your own?”

“Yes,” Bailey confirmed. “She is a first year attending general surgeon, and one of the toughest and strongest people I have ever met... and here in Seattle we know some pretty strong people.”

“And she’s pregnant? How far along did you say she was?” Addison asked.

“Fourteen and a half weeks,” Meredith replied. “OB said the fetal heart rate is definitely lower than normal at this stage. They’re worried about placental abruption as well as well as possible heart defects in the fetus. She also seems to be leaking amniotic fluid. I know the fetus is so small you probably can’t do much, but please try.”

“I’m going to do a complete work up and do everything I can for her and the baby,” Addison assured. “Now, what’s the patient’s name? Is the father in the picture?”

The three other women in the room paused to look at each other. Amelia spoke, “Her name is Josephine Karev. Jo for short.” 

Addison froze, “Wait. Karev as in Alex Karev?”

“Yes,” Amelia nodded. “She is his wife.”

Addison’s eyes widened comically, “Alex Karev got married? And he has a baby on the way? When the hell did that happen?”

Meredith chuckled, “I know. We were all very surprised too. They’ve been married for a year and a half. But they been together for the past seven years. They have been through so much together. No one deserves a happy ending more than them.”

“Well where is he?” Addison asked.

“He’s coming,” Meredith smiled. “He was out of town for a few weeks, but he’s on his way here right now. He is booking a flight as we speak.”

Amelia perked up, “Wait you were able to get a hold of him?”

Bailey beamed, “Yes! He heard the voicemail I left last night. He should be here by six this evening.”

“Oh thank God,” Amelia placed her hand on her protruding belly. “I was worried he was in some hospital half dead too.”

“Wait why were you worried?” Addison asked.

“Alex has been missing for five weeks and today is the first time any of us have been able to speak to him.”

“Oh!” Addison shook her head in confusion. “Well, is he okay?”

“He sounded alright when I talked to him, but I don’t really know,” Meredith answered. “I don’t know if it was just him worrying about Jo, but he sounded frantic and like he had been crying... point is he’s coming home.”

They continued to chat for a while as Addison did her exams, “Well she definitely needs to go back to surgery if the baby has any chance at surviving. I need to perform an intrauterine transfusion. She lost so much blood and it looks like the baby is not getting enough oxygen, hence the lower heart rate. Everything else seems okay for now, but I do want to stick around for a few days and monitor her. I’ll make trips out here if anything else arises because I am worried about placental abruption later on. Hopefully, if all goes well I can be here for the birth.”

The three other women agreed that it was best to take Jo back up and get the transfusion. Just as they were about to wheel her out of the room, Meredith stopped them, “Wait! Alex doesn’t know she’s pregnant. She didn’t get a chance to tell him and then he went missing. So go, do the surgery and only come to check on her when he’s not here. Or just say you’re here for a consult and don’t tell him that the consult is his wife.”

Addison looked at her in disbelief, “What? Ugh, Grey, you make my job that much more difficult.” 

Meredith shrugged, “Sorry. Good luck in surgery! Please save them.”

Addison placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “I will do everything in my power to keep both mom and baby, alive and safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah I know. You’re all itching to know where he’s been and what’s going on and if he’s gonna make it in time and how he’s gonna find out... hahaha I suck I know. 
> 
> Let me know your theories in the comments!!!


	7. Part 2 - [Alex] still sort of...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Can’t say I’m surprised. I mean, this was always too good to be true. I’ve always too messed up for anyone to stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH!! Okay so I’m so excited for you guys to read this chapter! Let me know what you think at the end... 
> 
> P.S. you might hate me... just a little bit, but I promised angst before fluff. Don’t worry though, the angst won’t last forever

He had been sitting by her bedside for the past twenty-eight hours. He had left momentarily to eat and use the bathroom, and once to go check on some things he had left with Meredith as soon as he returned. He felt bad for dumping them on her, especially this week, but he had no choice. This week had been hell and he needed to be here for his wife. His injured wife.

He’d say he was surprised, but his wife had always been someone he admired because she fought for people who couldn’t fight for themselves. That day with the baby being abandoned by its teenaged mother had been a turning point for him. Once he took some time to get to know who she was, he admired her. Her strength. Her dignity. Her dedication. Her courage. Her faith. Her resolve. Her determination. Her kindness. Her generosity. Her persistence. They were all things that made him fall a bit more in love with her everyday.

That’s what made it so hard to see her like this. To see her connected to so many monitors and the ventilator that was breathing for her. It was almost too much. He hated when she was sick or hurt. It pained him to see her in this condition. The old Alex wouldn’t have hesitated to go find the man who did this to her and kill him. The new Alex though, the one who had almost ended up in jail a couple years ago, the one who had lived through the last few weeks, knew better. He had to be better for the ones he loved. So instead, he stood right where he was, because this is where he was needed. Well, here and the cafeteria for lunch in ten minutes with Meredith, but you get the point. 

Lunch was nice. He ate with Mer and the kids, since it was Saturday, with Amelia and Maggie popping in for a short moment to say hello. It almost felt like everything was normal, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Nothing was the same as when he left it. He wasn’t big into change, but in the past several years of him living Jo, he learned that sometimes he just had to roll with the punches. That was another thing about her that he admired. Her ability to face change with an open mind and confident attitude. It was something he had slowly been learning from her and it came in really handy right now, when it felt like his world was falling apart. 

To top it all off, he had a very uncomfortable conversation with Link and another with Bailey where he felt like he was a child being scolded. He couldn’t blame them. He deserved those conversations and cringed when he tried to give an explanation for his behavior. To say they were shocked would be an understatement. Because it really seemed like something out of a bad lifetime or hallmark movie. These kind of things didn’t happen in real life. Or at least that’s what he thought. But if we’re being completely honest, this was totally on brand for him. It was ironic how everything had played out, because he felt like he was the butt of some sort of great big cosmic joke. It was like his entire life had been leading up to this exact moment and all he could do was laugh. If his younger self could see him now. 

He continued to walk back up to the CCU when he realized that the bed was no longer in the room. Paralyzed in fear he goes up to the nurses station and demands to know what going on. 

“Dr. Karev! I’m so sorry. I thought someone informed you already. Dr. Bailey had the other Dr. Karev moved to the ICU because she started breathing on her own again. She no longer needs the vents and isn’t considered critical anymore. She’s in room 315,” a nurse explained.

Alex let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, “Oh thank God. Thank you Brenda.”   
  


He ran up to ICU and looked for the room and walked in. She was still unconscious, but sure enough she was breathing on her own. They had her hooked up to oxygen, but she no longer required a ventilator to keep her breathing. That was a good sign. A really good sign. The one thing they weren’t sure of however, was her brain function. After coding three times and being without oxygen for God knows how long, they really didn’t know if she would have any deficits. He was hopeful, though. She was Jo. She’s survived so many horrible things and was still smiling. She could make it through this. This wouldn’t be what brings her down. It couldn’t be. 

He sat down in the chair beside her head and rested it down for a moment when he heard a sound in the door. Looking up, he saw Addison Montgomery standing there with a strange expression on her face, “Dr. Montgomery. What are you doing here?”

“Karev,” she smiled slightly. “I was called in for a consult and I heard that your wife was the hero everyone’s been talking about. Thought I’d come say hello and offer my support.”

“Thanks,” he cleared his throat. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” she nodded as she walked closer to the bed. 

“How did you feel when you found out that Shepherd and Sloan died? I know that you weren’t with them when they did, but you loved them at one point. I’d ask Mer how she felt, but I don’t want to bring it up to her... ya know?”

“It didn’t feel real,” she started. “The day I found out Mark died, I was at a funeral. It was a double whammy and it hurt like hell. It didn’t matter that it had been years since we had been together. I loved him at one point and wanted the best for him. When Derek died, it didn’t feel real. It felt like I was living someone else’s life. I mean, what are the odds that your ex-boyfriend and ex-husband die? And when I thought about Grey and the kids... it just... I felt like a part of me that I didn’t even know was still there died. Even though I wasn’t in love with Derek, I still held love for him in my heart, you know? And that piece of my heart that held love for him died that day too. I’m sure it was different for Meredith, though. I can’t even imagine how she felt... but that’s not happening here. Your wife is in the ICU, but stable. She doesn’t even need the vents anymore. She’s breathing on her own. She’ll wake up. I have faith she will.”

He pondered her words for a moment, “Yeah... I hope you’re right.”

“You surprise me you know,” Addison smiled. “I never doubted you would be a great doctor. And I can’t say I was surprised when you went for peds. I mean... you spent months on my service pretending like you hated it. It was all an act, though. You cared a lot more than you let on, back then. What surprised me, was finding out that you actually settled down and got married. When I heard what your wife’s name was, I think my jaw actually dropped. I couldn’t believe it. I thought you’d end up like Mark. In his forties and still sleeping with anything with boobs.”

Alex laughed, “Haha, for a while, so did I. You know the first time I met Jo, she called me out because I slept with all her friends? Ha—she actually listed every single one of them that I slept with. Then slowly I got to know her, and she became my best friend. Then I was a dumbass and waited too long because I was scared that she’d end up crazy or screwed up like all the other girls, because I was damaged goods. So, I didn’t say anything and she ended up dating this asshole with big arms. She almost moved in with him and then... well stuff happened. He was a jerk. He hit her. I found her one night sitting on the front porch. We had just had this huge argument earlier at the hospital about him. I was about to send her away when she showed me her face... that’s what kind of jump started everything. I told her I was in love with her before we even kissed. Then when we finally got together, she wouldn’t have sex with me in the hospital because I had already slept with her friends in all those same rooms. It was okay, though. Because she was special and she deserved to be treated like something special. Not like a random hookup. She’s why I am the man I am today.”

Addison’s eyes sparkled, “She sounds like quite the remarkable woman.”

“She is,” he confirmed. 

Addison placed a hand on his shoulder, “Well. I’m going go, but I will be around for a few more days, so I’ll stop by whenever I get the chance.”

“Thanks.”

He watched her leave the room and looked back down at his wife. For the first time in weeks, he really looked at her. She looked peaceful. Her face was soft and round, rounder than he remembered, but still so beautiful. Her body, mostly concealed by the sheets, looked a little thicker too. That’s wasn’t a problem for him though. If anything he preferred that. Back in his day, he had his fair share of skinny and slim. He liked it when Jo carried a little extra weight. Her hips were rounder and her breasts slightly bigger and he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t love it. Everyone knew he was a boob guy. And his wife’s were perfect. He’d never had any complaints. 

He continued to look at her when he noticed a barely perceptible movement. Her face twitched ever so slightly, causing him to stand up, “Jo. Jo. Jo, babe can you hear me?”

Her eyes fluttered under her eyelids and she let out a soft groan. He placed his hand on her forehead and called out again, “Jo. I need you to say something for me. Anything. Just one word is enough.”

Suddenly, she let out a large cough, forcing her eyes to open. He reached over to the beside table and brought the water up to her lips. Her eyes opened and closed almost in confusion, “Alex?” 

“Jo! Oh thank God you’re okay.”

She looked at him with tears in her eyes, “I thought you were dead.”

“Hey that’s my line,” he joked. His face fell and he spoke quietly. “You scared the crap out of me babe. You’ve been in a coma for the past two days. I know you were trying to save that girl—and you did. I’m so proud of you, but please, never do that again.”

“I scared the crap out of you? You’ve been missing for weeks. Meredith and I were talking another filing a missing person’s report if you didn’t show up by the end of the week.”

He chuckled, “You were going to what? Jo that’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? What would you do if I disappeared off the face of the earth for over a month?” She questioned. 

He grimaced, “Good point.”

“Where have you been? And don’t say Iowa because I know that not true. I called your mom. She’s fine. Aaron is fine. Amber moved to Portland and is working as an OB resident. She wants to come visit, by the way, since she’s only three hours away. I know you didn’t go home, so just tell me. Whatever it is, I can take it.”

Alex sighed, “I was in Kansas... with Izzie.”

Her breath caught in her chest. In all the scenarios she had thought up of the reasons Alex had gone MIA, Izzie Stevens definitely was not one of them. She thought he had maybe spent the last month sleeping through brothels in Vegas, not with his ex-wife. Not with his first love. Not with the woman he had left things so unfinished with. She didn’t think she had ever felt like she wanted to throw up so bad in her life. And that was saying something because her morning sickness had been killer, “Oh... wow. Can’t say I’m surprised. I mean, this was always too good to be true. I’ve always too messed up for anyone to stay.”

“What are you talking about?” Alex scrunched his face in confusion, before understanding what she had deduced. “No! It wasn’t like that I swear. Jo you’re it for me. You are the love of my life. You. No one else. I have never loved and will never love another woman the way that I love you. And don’t you ever let me hear you say anything like that again, because you deserve every good thing in this life, Jo. I wasn’t with Izzie because I missed her or still love her or was planning on leaving you. I was with Izzie because she was dying.”

Jo took a deep breath, “She... what?”

“Izzie died. Three days ago,” Alex bowed his head, a look of pain crossing his face. “When I was reaching out to people for the letters for Mer’s trial, I called Izzie. We talked for an hour as we caught up with each other. She told me she had been living on a farm in Kansas with horses and chickens and all kinds of animals. She said she became a surgeon and had decided to specialize in neuro because Derek saved her life all those years ago. She told me she was working at some hospital out in the middle of nowhere, but she had great friends and that her mom died three years ago from breast cancer. I told her about Mer and her kids. I told her about Cristina, Bailey, Richard, Callie, Arizona, and the plane crash/hospital sale. I told her how I became a pediatric surgeon and then chief of surgery for a while. And I told her about you. I told her about how I got remarried to the woman of my dreams. A woman who understands me like no one else could and would stand by me through anything. She told me how happy she was for me and that she was so glad that I found someone. I was about to ask her if she had ever remarried or anything when I heard them.

“I heard kids laughing and yelling mommy in the background. I asked her if she had kids and she said yes. She was a single mom to twins. A boy and a girl. Eli and Alexis Stevens. They’re both five years old... and they’re mine. She used our embryos.” 

Jo gasped at his words but nodded for him to continue, “I was upset at first that she never told me anything, but I signed my rights away when I signed the divorce papers. She said she was sorry for never saying anything, but that she would really like it if I met them. If there was one regret that she had in life it was not telling me about those kids. She said she wanted to make up for it with the time she had left. That’s when she told me that her cancer was back. It was worse than before and she was dying, for real this time. 

“I didn’t know how to tell you that I was going to Kansas to meet my kids that I assured you didn’t exist, three and a half years ago. I didn’t know how to tell you that I was going to go help my dying ex-wife be as comfortable as possible with the little time she had left. How could I tell you that I was getting to know these wonderful kids while also shielding them from the horrors of cancer? That, and I didn’t know how to live with the fact that I had kids that weren’t yours. Every time you called and I answered, it just got harder to lie to you about where I was. I hate lying, you know that. But I just couldn’t bring myself to put all of that on you, because I know how hard you’ve worked to get to where you are now. I didn’t want to be the reason you spiraled. So, I just stopped answering. Izzie didn’t want anyone from Seattle to know she was dying so I stopped answering everyone’s calls, you know, fulfill a dying woman’s last wishes. Because God knows the moment I would have answered any one of your calls I would’ve spilled everything. Instead, I turned my phone off and helped her make arrangements regarding her finances, the farm, the kids, and her funeral. She wanted to be buried in Chehalis, right next to her mom. The funeral is in five days.”

Jo laid in the bed processing everything that she had just been told. He had been in Kansas. _With_ _Izzie._ His ex-wife. Scratch that, his dying ex-wife.  And she actually died.  _Izzie was dead_. She was no longer breathing or talking or living. She ceased to exist. And she had his kids.  _Alex has kids._ Twins. _Oh God, Alex has two kids with a dead mother that he just found out about and she was pregnant._ _Well, that is if her injuries had not caused her to lose the baby._ Which she prayed wasn’t the case because she loved this child more than life itself. _Talk about the worst freaking timing_.  The universe actually hated her. Why couldn’t she go more than eight months at a time of total happiness?  Why was her life so screwed up that every time she felt like things just might be okay, the world came crashing down all around her? It was the story of her life; the bane of her existence. She was supposed to be happy and that he was alive and she was alive and she was supposed to tell him that they were having a baby.  _But how was she supposed to tell this man that she was pregnant with his third child?_ It kind of made her feel some kind of way knowing that she wouldn’t be the only mother of his children. Izzie would always be first. She would always be the one who gave him what he had been looking forward to for years, first.  _The kids._

She finally broke the silence, “Where are the kids?”

“They’re with Meredith right now,” he replied. “I had lunch with them earlier. Figured they should be around someone they know three days after their world got upended... I told everyone what happened. I had to. I ran into the hospital looking like a mad man with two five year olds trailing behind me, looking scared and sad. Zola, Bailey, and Ellis have been keeping them company, though. I think it helps, keep their minds off of... you know. I’m sorry you’re the last person to know, but in my defense you were unconscious. It feels wrong that I have kids and you’re the last person to find out.”

She let out a laugh because the irony was just too much for her. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t say it. At least not yet. Not until the proper period of mourning had passed. Not until after the funeral. Not until after they figured out what they were going to do about the kids. They would need a new house. But by the time all those things fell into place, she was sure she’d be the size of a cow. She took a deep breath, “I just... I need some time to think. Go get the kids, take them home, and get some sleep. I’ll just call Meredith to stay with me. She’s been here for me whenever I need it.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere,” he protested. “I’m staying right here with you.”

“As much as I’d love that, you have different priorities now. You have two kids that just lost their mom and need to know that you aren’t going to disappear too. So go, be with them, and go home. I won’t be alone. I have Meredith. And if Meredith can’t come, I have Link, Amelia, Jackson, Bailey, Pierce, Hunt, Levi, Helm, Ben, Andrew, and so many others. I am not alone. I have a village here rooting for me. I will be okay if you have to go,” the duality of her last statement wasn’t lost on either of them.

“I don’t want to go,” he shook his head as tears tracked down his cheeks. 

“I know,” Jo smiled sadly. “But you have to go.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... you finally know what happened to Alex and where he’s been this entire time. Let me know what you want to see in the next chapter!


	8. Part 3 - still everyone other than... [Alex]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re here.”
> 
> “Yeah, I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!! Special thanks to everyone who’s been reading! You guys are incredible. I love this story so much and it’s really take on a life of its own. This chapter has a couple surprise characters so be on the lookout for that. 
> 
> Also, I apologize in advance for any typos. I wrote this chapter on my phone so there may be a few errors. 
> 
> Happy Reading!

Throughout the next five days, Jo continued to recuperate. With Alex gone taking care of his kids and preparing stuff for Izzie’s funeral, Jo was finally able to speak to Addison Montgomery and find out the status of her baby. She was relieved that the baby was okay, but listened attentively as she was told that she needed to be in bed rest for the next three weeks. It was frustrating, but she had just had multiple major surgeries and very nearly lost her baby. If anything, it was a miracle that she only needed four weeks to recover. Then she could come back to work with a lighter load and do that until her thirty-eighth week, when Bailey decided for safety reasons, that she should go back on bed rest to prevent placental abruption. 

She didn’t mind the extra alone time. If anything, it showed just how many people loved and cared for her. Her room was constantly abuzz with visitors. Most of the time it was Meredith, Link, or Bailey, but Amelia sat with her during her breaks, Maggie brought her brownies since she was finally allowed to eat solid foods, Jackson brought Harriet by to say hello, Cristina Yang called her over the phone asking if she wanted her to come kick Alex’s ass, Webber came in and told her cool surgery stories, Arizona and Callie FaceTimed her, immediately discovering her pregnancy without Jo having to say a word, the residents got together and made a care package for her, even April dropped by the hospital to see how she was doing. It was endearing when she thought about it. Everyone had rallied around her.

In the last five days, Jo had a lot of time to think about what it was she wanted to say to him. She thought about her feelings. She thought about her fears. She thought about the life inside her and the two kids that were currently running around the loft. She knew Alex was going to keep them. There was no way he wasn’t going to keep them. With just the short amount of time that she had known about their existence, even she could see how much he loved them. She wanted him to keep them. She wanted him to be their dad. They couldn’t have asked for a better father. 

The problem wasn’t the kids, so to speak. The problem was that she didn’t know where she fit into the equation. She was the wife, but not their mother. She didn’t have much experience when it came to families in the first place. Add in some step kids with dead mommies that she didn’t know existed and that really was all kinds of complicated that she didn’t know how to handle. Not to mention her own baby. She was scared that her baby would come and she would love them more than Eli and Alexis. She was scared of becoming the evil stepmother that preferred her own kids over her step children, and caused them to become bitter and feel as though they were less than. 

But then there was the question if Alex even wanted her to be a part of their lives. I mean, he left his freaking wedding ring in the night stand. They still hadn’t spoken about it and in the short moments that he had stopped in to check on her, he hadn’t been wearing it. She wasn’t sure what that meant. Those rings had become such significant extensions of the two of them, that she couldn’t fathom taking them off for more than a few hours. But Alex hadn’t worn his in over a month. Did he feel guilty for leaving? Did he sleep with Izzie while she was dying? Did he want her to be a mother figure in his kids lives? She had no clue. She had so many questions but never a moment to ask them. She hadn’t even met the kids yet. Everyone in the hospital had met them, but she had yet to see their faces. Meredith had shown her a couple pictures. They were cute and she could see parts of Alex in both of them. But he hadn’t brought them in to meet her. She wasn’t even sure if he told them who she was. 

She heard some commotion by the door and looked up to see what was going on. She saw Meredith, Bailey, and Richard walk in. Dr. Webber smiled as he neared the bed, “Karev. How are you feeling? How’s the baby doing?”

“I’m feel a lot better and the baby is doing great, thanks... Wait, how did you find out about the baby?” 

Dr. Bailey chuckled, “Honey, the entire hospital knows you’re pregnant. Addison Montgomery performed surgery on you three days ago. The only one who doesn’t know is your husband.” 

“Yeah... I hate to break it to you Karev, but you’re starting to show. You better tell him quickly.” Webber stated. 

“Well I was going to, but then he showed up from the middle of nowhere Kansas with twins and a dead ex-wife so it kind of put a pin in those plans.”

Meredith laughed, “Well, you’re going to have to tell him soon because there’s only so much the blankets can do to cover a bump. And Addison is still around monitoring your progress. She may have to take you back up for another intrauterine transfusion if the baby’s heart rate doesn’t increase to normal levels soon.” 

Jo waved her hand dismissively, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But either way, it’s not like Alex has been here. I haven’t seen or really spoken to him much in the past five days. He’s got bigger problems to worry about. Sure, I have a bump but it’s really small. I can hide it if necessary. I doubt he’s going to show up and realize that Dr. Montgomery is performing surgery and I’m the patient. I can worry about this baby and myself just fine. Now tell me, how was the funeral?” 

Bailey sighed, “It was beautiful service. Alex did a great job planning it and getting people to attend. Izzie was Catholic so there was a priest. She got laid to rest right next to her mother and promised the kids that they would come visit a few times a year. He also asked me to map their genes as well as his own. He wants to know if they are genetically predisposed to cancer, since both their mother and grandmother died of it.”

Jo face turned downcast, “I can’t imagine what he’s feeling. It’s like every bad and messy thing that you watch on those cheesy cable movies happened to us in the past month and a half.”

“Oh you’ll get through it,” Webber encouraged. “You Karev’s are a tough bunch. And I’m not just talking about you and Alex. Those kids and the one you’ve got on the way are sure to be just as tough as their parents.”

A nurse walked into the room, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but Dr. Karev you have some visitors. I just wanted to make sure it was okay to send them in.”

“Yeah that’s fine,” she scrunched her face in confusion. “Who’s here? Basically everyone I know is a doctor in this hospital.”

Meredith shrugged, “I don’t know.”

They waited as the nurse returned with the said visitors. As they finally came into view, Jo gasped in shock, “Helen? Amber? What are you doing here?”

“Jo! Thank goodness you’re okay,” before she knew it, she had been enveloped into a tight hug by her mother-in-law. “I saw you on the news. I was so worried and couldn’t get any information so I called Amber while I was on the bus and asked her to come with me to see you.”

“Oh you didn’t have to do that, really. I’m okay,” she assured.

“Of course I have to,” Helen fretted. “You are family, Jo. You’re a Karev so that means that you are stuck with us. No matter how crazy we may be.”

If you asked her later, she’d say the tears were a result of the hormones. She cleared her throat, “Thank you, Helen.”

Amber who had been standing in the corner watching the scene finally came up to the bed, “Hi Jo. It’s nice to finally meet you in person. I’ve got to say, I did not think we’d meet like this.”

“Me neither,” Jo agreed. “Does Alex know you’re here?”

“Does Alex know you’re pregnant?” Helen questioned. 

“Well, I think that’s our cue to leave,” Meredith announced, an amused expression on her face as she ushered Bailey and Webber—who desperately wanted to stay and hear this conversation—out of the room.

“What—How... how did you...?” Jo stammered. 

“I suspected something when I saw the video,” Helen admitted. “But i wasn’t sure until I saw you in person and hugged you. You have a bump!”

Jo rubbed a hand over her face and couldn’t help but laugh, “Yeah. I have a bump. And to answer your question... no Alex doesn’t know.”

“You didn’t tell him,” Amber asked. 

“Well he hasn’t exactly been around to find out,” she mumbled. 

“He hasn’t been here?” Helen looked concerned. “Did he ever return your calls? Did he come back?” 

“Yes he’s back, don’t worry. He’s okay,” Jo answered. “He was with me the first two days, but things... happened and he had to leave. You should really call him.”

Amber frowned, “I know we don’t know each other all that well, but you’re a Karev, which means you’re my sister and now you’re having my niece or nephew so just tell me, do you need me to kick his ass?” 

Jo huffed a laugh, “No. It’s okay. You don’t need to go kick his ass or anything like that.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Helen inquired. “Because if there is one thing I know about my boy, it’s that you are the light of his life. So, tell me sweetheart, why he isn’t here with you right now?” 

“I’m not so sure about that anymore... It’s complicated and messy... and it’s a lot bigger than just Alex and I. There are too many unknowns and unexpected things happening all at the same time,” Jo confided. “There’s just a lot going on and I really think it’s best you hear it from Alex. Call him. Tell him that you’re here and you want to see him. He’ll pick up. I know he will. He’d go to the ends of the earth for his family.”

“Don’t forget that you are his family too,” Helen said, reaching to wipe a tear that had escaped Jo’s eye. “We’ll call him, but don’t think this means that we aren’t going to come back.”

“Yes, we will definitely come back,” Amber confirmed. “And don’t worry. We won’t say anything about the baby.”

“You have no idea how much this all means to me,” Jo thanked. “I’ll see you soon.” 

She watched women leave and felt the tears begin to fall. For the past five days, she had kept it together. She hadn’t cried. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel the pain of everything she had been through. But there was no more ignoring it. She was fifteen weeks pregnant with Alex’s baby. Alex has kids. Twins with Izzie. Izzie died and left the kids with Alex. Alex took off his wedding ring. She hadn’t told Alex she was pregnant. She was in recovery after almost being stabbed to death. She went through multiple major surgeries. She almost died multiple times. She almost lost her baby. And her husband wasn’t here. He’s not here.

Sobs racked her entire body as she finally let out everything that she had bottled up inside for weeks. All of the fear, anger, resentment, sadness, sorrow, stress, pain and anxiety came rushing out as she cried. She cried for what felt like hours. She cried so much that she didn’t have any tears left. It was brutal and heartbreaking, but it was also refreshing and relieving. She cried herself to sleep that night, finally feeling like she had been freed of every single scar that had been inflicted on her recently. 

She doesn’t know how long she had been asleep, but she awoke to a hand stroking her hair and face. She cracked her eyes open and met the pair of eyes that she oh so loved. Noticing that she was awake, he gave her a crooked smile, “Hey.”

“Hey,” she blinked. “You’re here.”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“I didn’t think you’d come,” she admitted.

“There’s not place I’d rather be,” he declared. “Go back to sleep, it’s only four in the morning. I’ll be here when you wake up. Okay?”

She hummed in response, “Okay.”

The next time she opened her eyes, the sun was out. True to his word, Alex was sitting on the couch in the corner of her hospital room, talking quietly on the phone to what sounded like children, “Good morning. Yeah I know I wasn’t there to make you breakfast today... but don’t worry because Auntie Maggie makes the best pancakes... yes Lex I know...I don’t know if I’ll make it for dinner, but I promise to be there to tuck you in goodnight... Okay Eli. Be good for your aunties and grandma and have fun playing with ZoZo, B, and Els... haha, love you too kiddos.”

“Good morning,” Jo greeted, startling Alex. Her lips turned up into a smile. “You know... I haven’t seen you with the yet, but I can already tell that you are an amazing father.”

He shrugged sheepishly, “Thanks.”

The stood in silence for a moment, just looking each other in the eyes. It wasn’t the first time they had done this. They had been known to have entire conversations with just their eyes. It was probably one of the most intimate things you could do with another person, and they had mastered it. No words necessary. No faking. No covering up what you had been too afraid to vocalize. Everything was out in the open.

”I missed you,” he caressed her face.

“I miss you too,” she leaned into him.

Alex cleared his throat, “I have been unfair to you. I got so preoccupied by everything I had going on that I didn’t stop to think how that might affect you and I’m sorry. I thought that keeping you in the dark would be better, but I know now that, that was wrong. Because, I know that if it were the other way around, I’d be a mess. You amaze me every single day through your strength. And I can’t think of a better person to have by my side as I navigate this insane new role.”

“You took off your ring.”

“Like I said, I was unfair to you. I thought it would be easier to give you an out. I thought it’d be easier to focus on what I had to do with these kids if I didn’t have to be constantly reminded of what was missing. So, I left it. I almost wrote you a letter explaining everything. I was going to give you the option of an out, because you didn’t sign up for this.But I couldn’t bring myself to send it, because as much as it might have been the selfless move, I know now more than ever not just how much I need you, but how much I  want you there with me. I meant what I said when I asked you to marry me again. I want to grow old with you, Jo. For better or for worse, in sickness and health. But I know you didn’t want this. I know this wasn’t part of the deal. But I’m asking, will you do this with me?”

“Alex,” she breathed. “I won’t lie and say I love this situation. Of course I always imagined us having kids first, but they’re a part of you. How could I not love them?” 

Alex beamed, “God, how did I get so lucky?”

“I’m the one who’s lucky.”

“Are you up for meeting them later today? I can ask my sister and mom to bring them by. Thanks for letting me know they were coming, by the way.”

“Hey, I had no idea they were coming,” Jo laughed. “Do you think I wanted the first time I met Amber to be in a hospital bed looking all hurt and swollen?” 

“Good point,” he tilted his head. “Has Hunt said anything? I know he and Pierce performed your surgery. There shouldn’t still be this much swelling.”

She froze, trying to figure out a way to explain her swollen abdomen. A part of her felt horrible for keeping this a secret from him. She wanted to tell him about her pregnancy and that the swelling wasn’t a surgical complication. But it was still too soon. She would tell him. Just not today.  _ Tomorrow, I’ll tell him tomorrow _ , “It’s fine. I got stabbed four times, there’s bound to be swelling. I’ve got a long road to recovery and my body just needs some time to heal.”

“Okay. Fine,” he huffed. Something didn’t seem right to him, but he was going to keep his mouth shut and see if she was right. “Anyway, do you feel up to meeting them today?”

“Yes, Alex. I would love to meet them today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you guys like the surprise characters? We are so so close to Alex FINALLY finding out about Jo’s pregnancy. Originally, I was going to post it all in this chapter, but it was just too much and I decided to split it up. The next chapter will most likely be the last chapter, with an epilogue following to bring the story to a close. 
> 
> Don’t worry though! I still have plenty of stories in the works and I am always open to prompts. You can find me on tumblr @iamtreblesclefstories and choose prompts from the list on my fanfic master post.


	9. Pt. 4 - [Alex] almost...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jo meets Alex's kids

Jo was nervous. More nervous than she had been in a long time. Immediately she was catapulted back in the ether of her childhood when she would meet a foster family for the first time. The insecure uncertainty along with anticipation and excitement. This time, she was on the other side as the parental figure. To be honest this was a perspective she had never even considered. 

She was meeting his kids. It was surreal to be meeting her husband’s five-year olds for the first time. She felt jittery and excited but scared that they wouldn’t like her. Her worst fear would be to become the evil stepmom from Cinderella. 

Alex wasn’t worried, though. He was convinced that they would love her and that Jo would get comfortable with the kids rather quickly. 

But Alex’s encouraging words did nothing to help calm her anxiety. Jo wanted to make a good impression. She wanted these kids to like her and eventually, with a lot of patience and time, maybe even love her. So, she did what any nervous girl meeting the family would do and called for reinforcements.

Within the hour, Meredith and Amelia walked into Jo’s hospital room with bags of clothes, makeup, and hair styling tools. Amelia wiggled her brows, “You know, you’d think you were going on a hot date with the amount of stuff you asked us to bring.”

“Leave her alone,” Meredith smiled. “She’s meeting her husband’s kids for the first time. She’s allowed to be nervous. I think it’s sweet.”

“I just... I don’t want to look scary,” Jo confessed candidly. “Their mom died a week ago and I don’t want seeing me in a hospital bed, gown, and injured to trigger them in anyway. So, I need your help to shower and get ready.”

Amelia’s face softened, “Of course.”

“Alright then!” Meredith clapped. “Amelia, help Jo out of the bed. Jo, time to strip.”

They laughed and got to work making Jo look less sick. Amelia gasped as Jo took off the hospital gown, “Your belly is so cute and small! When I was fifteen weeks, I was already showing a lot, but your belly is so cute and tiny.”

“Perks of having a retroverted uterus,” Jo joked. “It's helping me hide my pregnancy from my idiot husband.” 

Amelia and Meredith were careful with her incisions and helped her wash her hair. It was strange for Jo. Shuffled from home to home as a child, she rarely got this level of care and attention. These few months had really shown her how fortunate and supportive her world was now. It felt amazing to know that she had a family that loved her and cared enough to do something like help her bathe. Before Alex, Jo had never known this level of care and reverence. Nowadays, her life was overflowing with people who were there for her in various ways. 

After about an hour, Jo had showered, washed her hair, changed into a nicer night gown and leggings, had her makeup done and hair styled. Meredith and Amelia helped her back into bed and positioned the covers around her. Reaching out for her makeup bag, she held up a mirror and wrinkled her face in worry, “I look nice right? I don’t look like the strange, mean lady that’s trying to replace their mom, right?”

“No you don't,” Meredith chuckled. “You look beautiful. The twins are funny and sweet. You will like them and they will like you. There might be rocky moments but in the end I’m confident you will win them over.”

“I agree,” Amelia nodded. “Kids like those two make me less worried about becoming a mom."

Meredith, who'd been putting Jo's things away into various hospital drawers, turned around, “Do you think you’ll be okay here on your own for a bit? Alex said he was going to bring the kids to the hospital in an hour after they’re done eating ice cream with Amber and Helen.”

“Yeah. I’ll be okay.”

Just as they were going to leave, Amelia grabbed a pillow and handed it to Jo, “Here. Use this the cover the bump.”

“Thanks.”

Meanwhile, Alex was enjoying seeing his kids with their Grandma Helen. It was pretty surreal. For the past seven years, whenever he thought of children, he thought about going through pregnancy and all the stages after with Jo. Since Jo didn’t have parents and Alex had been estranged from his family for a while, he never thought he’d see this. If anything, he pictured his kids having various aunts and a few uncles that were really just family friends. Their “cousins” would be Mer's kids and Sofia, Harriet, Tuck, and now Link and Amelia's kid. He never thought they’d get the chance at this. He hadn’t even dared to dream of such possibilities. But here he was, watching his Mom entertain some of the strongest, sweetest, most fearless kids he knew. He'd be lying if he said it didn’t make his eyes water. 

Alex felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his sister smiling at him, “You know, it doesn’t surprise me to see you this way. Not in the slightest. You were always so good with Aaron and I as kids. You were the parent, and even though you haven’t been around for a while now, I know I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for you.” 

He brought his sister into a hug, “I’m proud of you, kid. And you know, now that you’re in Portland, you can come visit whenever you want. I’d say we could come visit you but, taking two hyperactive kids on a road trip is not exactly what Jo and I would consider a good time.”

Amber made a face, “Two kids, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Alex furrowed his brows. “They’re twins. Of course, there’s two of them.”

“Yes, I think I know what twins are,” Amber rolled her eyes. “I’m an OB resident, you know.”

“Okay then…” Alex shook his head. His sister was acting weird. Well, honestly, he couldn’t really tell if she was acting out of the ordinary because he hadn’t really seen much of her in the past twelve years. 

“Do they know who they're going to meet?” Amber asked.

“Yeah,” Alex nodded. “When I first met them, they asked me why I hadn’t been around. Apparently before I arrived, Izzie sat them down and explained that I didn’t know about them and that sometimes Mommies and Daddies don’t live together. That’s when she told them I was married. They started asking me questions about Jo, so I told them stories of how we met and became friends, how long we had been together, and the basics like her name, age, job. I showed them pictures and videos of our wedding day and of the Grey Sloan family. It was a good distraction for them. It made Izzie smile, too. She felt good knowing that the kids were going to grow up with a woman like Jo raising them. She told me that I did good, and that Jo was out of my league—which I completely agree with.”

Amber laughed, “She wasn’t wrong. Jo is great, Alex. I don't know what you did to find someone like her, but you must’ve done something right.”

When it was time to go, Alex said bye to Amber and his Mom who were on their way back to Meredith’s house. He helped the kids into the car and strapped them into their car seats. He hopped into the driver’s seat and turned on the family friendly radio station. Alex turned around to look at the twins, “Okay, you guys. So, we are going to go meet Jo now. Remember, I told you she got hurt so she’s been in the hospital. That’s why you haven’t met her yet. When we get there, you are going to have to be very careful. She’s really excited to meet you guys.”

“Daddy,” Alexis called out. “What if Miss Jojo don’t like us? Will you have to go away like Mommy did? Will we hafta find new parwents again?”

“No, sweetheart,” Alex’s eyes softened. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going away. I’m going to be around so often that you two are going to get sick of me.”

“Mmmkayyyy,” Alexis giggled. “But whatta.. whatta if she’s like the Evil Step-Mama from Cindewella or the mean lady in Wapunzel?”

“Thewres no such thing as Evil Step-Mamas, Lex. Them’s just in faiwytales and movies. Stuff like that don’t happen in weal life,” Eli rolled his eyes and sighed dreamily. “I think Josie’s gonna be nice. She looks nice. She’s weally pwetty, too.”

Sensing his son had a mini crush on his wife, Alex laughed, “She sure is, kiddo.” 

After a few minutes of silence, Alexis mustered to courage to finally ask what she’s most curious about, “Is Jo going to be our new Mommy?” 

Alex knew it was only a matter of time for this topic to come up. He knew he’d have to address this sooner or later, “Look, your Mommy will always be your Mommy.”

“Even though she died?” Eli asked. 

“Yes,” Alex replied. “Just because Mommy is gone doesn’t mean that she isn’t your Mommy anymore. She will always be your Mother and you’ll always love and miss her. But now that you’re living with Daddy, you get a super special bonus Mama. Besides you rugrats, she is Daddy’s favorite person in the whole wide world and she is so excited to have us all live together. It might take some time to get to know her but she loves you so much already. You don’t have to call her Mommy if you don’t want to. She might do some similar things as your Mommy that’s gone and though I’m sure she would love that name too, it’s all up to you.” 

Satisfied with their Dad’s answer, the kids changed the subject to lighter things. They spent the rest of the car ride playing iSpy and singing the songs on the radio off the top of their lungs. Eli and Alexis sang and played all the way until the moment when Alex parked the car in the hospital parking lot. He exited the car and helped both kids out of their booster seats. Once all unpacked, he grabbed each of their hands and lead them into the building. 

The walk up to Jo’s room was the strange new normal. Everywhere he went, people stopped to comment on how cute his kids were. He couldn’t deny it or blame them. His kids were pretty cute. Many of the nurses stopped and said hi to the him and kids, waving and exchanging kind words. As he approached the door, he paused and looked at his kids, “Okay. You guys ready.”

The twins exchanged a look, “Yes.”

Inside the room, Jo—who’d been reading a book—heard a knock on the door. The door opened and she saw Alex. She took a deep breath, “Hey.”

“Hey,” he smiled. “Jo, I’d like you to meet Eli and Alexis.” 

Jo closed her book and felt the air catch in her throat as the twins walked into her room. She doesn’t really know why or how, but the moment she saw them, she knew she would love them for the rest of her life. Suddenly she thought back to the conversation she had over a month and a half ago with Meredith when she first found out she was pregnant. 

“Something happens when you see your kid for the first time–whether it’s a sonogram or adoption–when the rest of the world fades away and you know in that moment that you don’t belong to yourself anymore, but this kid that you don’t even know.”

Jo couldn’t possibly understand why she was so worried. Although she hadn’t given birth to them and she had never met them, these kids were her kids. She put the book in her hand down on the pillow covering her midsection and gave the twins a bright smile, “Hi. My name is Jo. It’s so nice to finally meet you. Would it be okay for me to hug you?”

Alexis—the more timid of the pair who’d been worried that her new stepmother would be mean and scary—gasped when she saw her Father’s wife sitting up in the bed with a book on her lap. To Lex, Jo looked just like the princesses in her stories. Her wariness dissipated. She let go of her Father’s hand and strode confidently up to the bed and gave Jo a tight squeeze, “Hi Jo!”

Jo felt tears fill her eyes as she hugged the small girl back, “Oh! Hi, Baby girl.”

Letting go of Jo, Alexis tugged sought Alex’s attention by tugging on his pant leg, “Daddy! You didn’t tell us that Jo is a pwincess. She looks just like Belle in Beauty and da Beast!”

Jo and Alex laughed, remembering the nickname Alex used so many years ago before he got to know Jo. Alex ruffled Alexis’ hair, “She does, doesn’t she? I’ve always thought she was a princess.”

Eli—who’d actually been quite excited to meet Jo—grew a little shy. Peeking out from behind his Dad, he gave her a small wave, “Hi… I’m Eli.”

“Hi Eli,” Jo waved back. “Are those the Avengers on your shirt? I love the Avengers. Who’s your favorite superhero?”

Eli perked up when he realized that Jo knew all about superheroes. It was hard to choose a favorite though and he took the question to heart. After a moment he muttered “Um… Thwor!”

“Thor? You know… I have a friend who kind of looks like Thor. Maybe he can play superhero with you and Bailey.” 

“For weals!?” Eli’s eyes lit up as he jumped up and down.

“Yup,” Jo chuckled. “Maybe we can find it on Disney+ and we'll watch it together.”

“Okay!” Eli clapped his hands.

“Can we watch Beauty and the Beast, too?" Alexis begged Jo with wide eyes.

“Sure,” Jo smiled. “We’ll watch it and sing all of the songs, too.”


	10. Pt. 5 - [Alex] finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex finds out about the baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it. Huge shoutout to Ren for beta-ing this like two weeks ago when I only had the bones of what I wanted this moment to look like. Big thanks to the entire group chat for helping me stay motivated and encouraging me to write this. Anyway... HAPPY READING!

It had been five days since she had met the kids and things were going smoothly. Since she was doing much better, Jo encouraged a reluctant Alex to start working again—even if it was only for a few hours a day. Dr. Bailey had been flexible in coming to an agreement with him about a new schedule. Since Alex had gone back to work two days ago, Jo and the kids spent a lot of time hanging out in her hospital room. She had ordered toys and games and movies for them to watch during the hours that they were with her. It was surprisingly easy to fall in love with these kids. She could see why Alex’s eyes shined a bit brighter anytime he was around them. In the last couple days, she had learned their personalities and their quirks.

Eli was the angel child. He was sweet and kind with a bit of a mischievous side. He was funny and loved to joke around and make people laugh. One of her favorite things about him was that had that same crooked smile as Alex. Anytime he said something funny, his face would contort into that same grin and it would make her heart swell. It was obvious that he was going to be a heartbreaker. She was determined to steer him from the path of his Father’s wild youth however. No, Eli would break hearts because he would be such a sweetheart that all girls will fall in love with him. He had Alex’s eyes and loved to wrestle. He was obsessed with superheroes, specifically Thor. He was a morning person and loved breakfast food. He was allergic to cats. His favorite color was yellow, and he hated beans, licorice, and lizards, but he loved snakes.

Alexis was their mini evil spawn who hid it behind a façade of shyness. It was kind of scary how similar she and Alex were. If she didn’t know any better, Jo would’ve thought that Alexis had known her father all along. Jo already knew that this little girl was going to be the death of her husband in her teen years. She was sneaky and bold. Her favorite color was green, just like her father, and she wanted to learn to play guitar. She had blonde hair like her mother, but her eyes were all Alex. Jo thought that she looked quite a bit like Amber in many ways. Anytime she’d get caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to, she’d make the same dorky face that she had seen so many time on both Amber and Alex’s faces. She was allergic to peanuts and hated peas and broccoli. She absolutely adored Disney princesses. Her favorite used to Anna from Frozen, but ever since meeting Jo, she decided that Belle was her new favorite. One thing about Alexis that surprised Jo was her honesty. She was open and didn’t mind sharing her fears.

Jo wondered what kind of personality her baby would have. She wondered what kind of music they would like, what their favorite subject in school would be, their favorite colors, favorite movies, food aversions, strange quirks, what they want to be when they grow up... Seeing these kids—Alex’s kids — only confirmed that she had chosen the right person all along. There was no other man that she’d want to raise children with.

An idea popped into her head and she waved the kids over from where they were playing in the corner of her hospital room, “Eli! Lex! Come here.”

Jo pat the bed and the kids jumped and sat down on the bed with her. She smiled, “I need your help with something.”

Alexis’ eyes widened, “Ooh! Is it a pwank, JoJo? Please tell me it’s a pwank!”

Jo chuckled, “No Lex, it’s not a prank. But it is a surprise. A very big surprise and I need both of your help with it.”

“I wanna help, Josie!” Eli exclaimed. “I love surpwises. Who are we supwising?”

“We’re surprising your dad,” Jo supplied.

“Is it hims biwthday?” Alexis asked.

“No. It’s not his birthday,” Jo took a deep breath. “I’ve been keeping a secret from your dad for a very long time. A very big secret, and now I think it’s finally time I tell him, but I want your help to do it.”

The twins nodded excitedly, “Okay!”

“Alright, remember what I’m telling you is a secret. You can’t tell your dad until we figure out how to make it special. Got it?”

“Got it!”

“You know how babies come out of Mommies bellies?”

“Yup! I remem’mer learning that in a movie!” Alexis shared.

“Okay, well... I have a baby in my belly.”

Eli’s jaw dropped as he gasped, “For weals?”

“Haha, yes for reals,” Jo laughed. “That means in a few months you’re going to have a new baby brother or sister.”

“Serwiouswy?” Alexis jumped up and down. “We’re habbin’ a baby?”

“Yes, we’re having a baby,” Jo confirmed, laughing at the twins’ excitement. “Like I said, your Daddy doesn’t know, so we’ve got to come up with a really fun way to tell him.”

Eli scrunched his face up in thought, “What if we dwaw pictuwes?”

Alexis shook her head, “No. It’s gotta be mowe cool than that, Eli. Does Auntie Mer know?”

“Yes she does, Lex.”

Eli sprang up, “I got it! We can give him clues all day. And we can have all his fwiends give ‘em to him.”

“Yes!” Alexis nodded. “And then he can come hewe and... and... and we can have shiwts that say big sissy and brotha on! My fwend Lily from Pweschool had one! It’ll be like a game!”

Jo had to say, she was quite impressed. She thought Alex had been exaggerating about how smart they were, but this brainstorming session had proved to her just how creative kids can be. She made a face looking like she was contemplating their plan and then grinned, “I think that’s a great idea guys! Lex, I need you to go up to the nurses station and ask for some paper and envelopes. Can you do that?”

“Yup! I’ll ask nuwse Millie! She’s the nice one that bwings us ice pops and jello.”

“Great! Now Eli, I need you to grab all of your markers and colored pencils and bring them here to the bed. Oh and pass me my phone!”

“Okay JoJo!”

“We are going to surprise your daddy and he’s going to be so shocked.”

*****

Though bright for their age, the twins still had the attention spans of 5 year olds. They took four hours and 2 tantrums to agree on two clues. Jo decided to scrap that rest of that portion of the reveal realizing how ambitious their plans had been. If anything, it reminded her that Alex also had no patience for puzzles and would be more frustrated than excited by the end.

Instead of getting everyone involved with clues, she decided to ask those who wouldn’t be handing Alex clues to write him a letter with advice about having a newborn or being a parent. She drafted the last clue to get him to her room to spare any drama from the kids.

Circling back to the clues they did make, Jo started by texting Helen and Amber the plan. Eager with anticipation, Amber came by the hospital to get the first clue she and the kids crafted for Alex. For the kickoff clue, she got Amber to put it in Alex’s go to breakfast cereal box. Amber had been picking up the kids and bringing them to Jo in the mornings, so it wouldn’t be weird if she showed up to the loft a bit early to plant the first clue. Next, she got Meredith in on her portion and gave her the last paper craft clue. Then she ordered the twin’s shirts online and marveled at the wonderment next day shipping. The shirts would arrive at Meredith’s house the next morning and Amelia—who had a later shift tomorrow morning—would bring them in by noon. Bailey had agreed to keep Alex very busy tomorrow and Hayes made sure to defer any long procedures to Alex, specifically so that they could drag the anticipation out. In the midst of it all, their friends would interrupt him throughout the day to give him a letter or a verbal word of advice before he located Meredith with the final clue.

The next morning, Jo woke up to a phone call from Amber, “Hey, Ambs. Did you get to the loft?”

“I sure did,” Amber replied. “So, I'm supposed to put it in the cereal box? What if he doesn’t eat cereal today?”

“He always eats cereal when he's in a hurry and he’s almost always in a hurry so you don’t have to worry about that,” Jo chuckled.

Amber laughed, “Okay. I'm going in. I’ll text you when I’m leaving with the kids.”

Amber walked into the loft quietly and scanned around for her brother. She saw the light on in the bathroom and proceeded to tiptoe past the sleeping children to the kitchen. She grabbed the box of cereal that was on the shelf and deposited the envelop holding the clue inside. Amber helped herself to some strawberries that were in the fridge and put on a pot of coffee.

Alex walked out of the bathroom with a look of confusion on his face as he caught a waft of coffee fill his nostrils. Looking around, he saw his sister at the kitchen table, “What are you doing here so early?”

“I-Uh... I couldn’t sleep last night so I just decided to swing by early this morning to spend time with you before I fly mom back to Iowa tonight,” Amber supplied. “I’ve been out here way too long for a resident. Thankfully, my boss has been very understanding and allowed me to take these weeks of leave. The entire situation sounds so crazy that she didn't even hesitate to let me come here. The moment you mention schizophrenic moms making cross country trips to visit your critically injured sister-in-law and a brother who just found out that he had twin five year olds that his ex-wife hid from him in the midst of caring for injured wife, people are a lot more willing to make allowances for you."

Alex laughed at his sister's summary of the past few weeks, "Yeah, as former chief of surgery, I'd let you go for as long as you needed."

Alex opened up the cupboard and grabbed a bowl. He then reached into the refrigerator and took out the milk, placing it on the table. Amber watched as Alex finally took the box of cereal down from the shelf and opened it. She took a deep breath as he began to pour it into his bowl and an envelope fell out. Alex picked up the envelope and looked at his sister strangely, "What the hell is this?"

"The kids created a scavenger hunt for you to do," Amber shared.

"What?" Alex whined. "No way in hell am I doing that today. I've got a long day with lots to do and I don't have time to play games."

“Suck it up," Amber rolled her eyes. "It’ll be worth it in the end. Trust me. Don’t be a grumpy old man. You’re a dad now, you have to do stuff like this. That envelope holds your first clue.”

_Find the person_

_Who fits this clue_

_Then they’ll have_

_The next step for you!_

_Ssshhhh be quiet_

_When you visit_

_Hand knitted presents_

_That are most exquisite_

"Mom? They want me to find mom? But she's at the hotel sleeping. I was planning on going to see Jo before my shift today. Going to see mom is going to make me go completely out of my way," Alex complained.

"Mom's not at the hotel," Amber shook her head. "She stood at the hospital with Jo last night. She said something about wanting to spend some more time with her favorite Karev."

"Of course she prefers Jo to either of us, " Alex scoffed. "Alright, well I’m going to go to the hospital and find mom to finish this scavenger hunt as quickly as possible."

Alex finished his breakfast and said goodbye to his sister as he headed out the door. The drive to the hospital was an annoying one. There was a minor accident on the way to the hospital that was causing traffic to slow significantly. Alex was in a sour mood by the time he arrived to work. The traffic had set him back thirty minutes, drastically diminishing the amount of time he'd be able to spend with his wife.

He parked his car and walked into the hospital, noticing his mom waiting for him in the lobby, "Hey. How's Jo?"

"She's good. She was getting rounded on when I left,” Helen smiled. “I'm guessing that you are here to receive your next clue.”

“Why am I doing this?” Alex asked. “I don’t have time for this. I’ve got a lot to do today, and I really just want to see Jo in the five seconds of free time I have because technically I’m already late for rounds.”

Helen slapped him upside the head, “Nothing is stupid or a waste of time when it comes to your kids. Especially, when you already missed this much time with them. Why do you think I came all the way out here when I heard you were being an idiot and hadn’t called your wife in weeks? I didn’t want to, but you’re my kid.”

“Ugh… whatever,” Alex scowled. “Just give me the next clue.”

_Yay you did it!_

_You’re on your way_

_Next please locate_

_The one who would say_

_You’re my person_

_Whether near or far_

_I love you best_

_With Tequila at the bar_

“Meredith,” Alex stated, looking at his mom. “Where is she?”

“I don't know,” his mom shrugged. “I was just told to give this to you. I'm going back to Jo's room. You should go look for Meredith.”

Alex sighed, "Okay, I'll go find Meredith and finish the kids' scavenger hunt. Tell Jo I love her and that I'll come by the room whenever I get a break today."

Alex walked over to the attendings' lounge, hoping he'd find Meredith in there eating breakfast or studying for a surgery. He popped his head in only to find it empty. Which was unsurprising considering that he was late to work today. He was about to walk out when Jackson walked into the room.

"Karev! Hey, man. How are you? How's Jo? I haven't had a chance to visit her in the past few days. I've had Harriet and Ruby the past week because April and Matthew went on some medical missions trip to Ecuador and I offered to watch both girls," Jackson shared. "But, I mean, you already know how that is right? It's different with babies, though. They can't talk or let you know what they need. You’ve got to figure it out as you go along.”

“Yeah I kind of work with babies who can’t tell me what hurts on a daily basis so trust me, I know,” Alex nodded. “Listen, I’d love to stay and talk, but I really need to find Meredith. Have you seen her?”

“Nope,” Jackson shook his head. “I haven’t seen her today, but I was told to give you this.”

Jackson handed Alex another envelope. Confused because he was sure that the last clue pointed to Meredith he looked up at Jackson, “What’s this?”

“Oh, a few of us wrote you some letters regarding parenting and relationship advice since lately you’ve been thrown for a loop,” Jackson smiled. “Thought it would be good motivation to help you get the hang of everything that’s about to change within the next few months.”

“Huh,” Alex raised his eyebrows. “Thanks, Avery. I appreciate the gesture.”

Alex looked as Jackson walked away and try to determine what his next move would be. Clutching the letter in his hand, he decided to just go ahead and do his rounds. He could find Meredith later. Alex quickly changed into some scrubs and put the letter in his pocket. He walked out of the lounge and boarded the elevator. Having a moment to himself, he decided to read Jackson’s letter while making his way down to the peds wing. He opened the letter and read what was inside:

_Dear Alex,_

_The first time I found out I was going to be a father, honestly, I was stressed. April and I had been fighting over our values and how we’d raise our hypothetical children, when all of a sudden, they weren’t hypothetical anymore. I think everyone remembers the pain and hurt that April and I experienced when we lost Samuel. It was so great that it broke us. The second time I found out that I was going to be a father, I was scared. I was terrified of a repeat of what happened last time. I was terrified of falling in love with a kid that might not make it. Thankfully she did, but if I have learned one thing since becoming a parent, it’s that every moment is so damn scary. That scared feeling never really goes away, especially since there’s so much to lose._

_I’m sure you were terrified when you found out about the twins. And I’m sure that you’ll be terrified repeatedly in the future. But don’t let that fear steal the joy that your kids will bring you. Take advantage of every moment. Every bed time story. Every bottle feeding. Every game you play. Every diaper change. Every walk in the park. Every milestone. Because those are what keep you going despite fear._

_Jackson Avery_

Alex folded the letter back up and put it into his pocket as he exited the elevator doors. The letter resonated with Alex. He had been terrified when he found out about the twins. He was still terrified every moment of every day that he would mess it up. That he’d mess his kids up. Honestly, he needed that reminder to revel in the little things. Now, Alex wasn’t quite sure why Jackson was talking diapers changes and bottle feedings because his kids were five, but he didn’t think much of it.

Alex caught up with the residents on the peds floor and joined them for rounds on his patients. After about an hour of rounding, he finally had a moment free to go look for Meredith to get the next clue and complete his kids’ scavenger hunt. He was about to go ask about Meredith at the nurses station when he ran into Bailey.

“Karev! Exactly who I am looking for,” Bailey said, causing him to stop. “I need you to come with me. I’ve got a fifteen year old kid in the ER that going to need abdominal surgery. I would do it, but I’ve got some things I need to take care of. You know how it is, when you’re chief.”

“Can’t Hayes do it?” Alex asked. “I really need to find Mer. Give the case to him.”

“No can do,” Bailey shook her head. “I already talked to Hayes. He said to let you have it since you’ve been out for so long and are probably itching for surgeries.”

Alex rolled his eyes, “Normally, I’d say yes. But I really need to find Mer. My kids did this thing and I gotta finish it because if not I’ll break their little hearts and even I’m not that big of an ass. On top of that, I haven’t had a chance to see my wife today.”

“You can handle this,” Bailey narrowed her eyes at him. “I know you are stressed with Jo and the twins, and work, and there’s about to be a lot more things you can stress about, but you’ve got this. I’ve seen you beat impossible odds. So, you can handle this crazy day. The kid is in bed 6 in the ER.”

Alex sighed and began to walk in the direction of the Emergency Room. Just then, Bailey interrupted him, “Karev! Wait. I almost forgot. I was told to give this to you.”

Bailey handed Alex another envelope, “Is this one of those letters Jackson mentioned this morning?”

“Sure is,” Bailey nodded. “Make sure you take some time and actually read it.”

Alex took Bailey's letter and decided to take a moment to read it before going down to the ER to treat the kid Bailey had assigned him to. He sat down on an empty gurney and opened the envelope:

_Alexander Karev,_

_The moment you came into my care, you were an utter pain in my ass. I never thought I would see you become the man you are today. In many ways, I raised you. Seeing you in the position you're in makes me feel like I've done something right in this life. I look at the man you are today and I can only hope that one day, Tuck will be as great of a man as you have become._

_Because I've raised you and I care about you, I feel that I can tell you some things, though. Not telling your wife know where you were for an entire month and then showing up with two kids and this idea of wanting to give her an out, was probably the stupidest thing you have ever done. Jo is a strong, tough woman. She is probably the only woman in the world that would put up with all of the things you have put her through. Don't throw that away because things get messy._

_You two have a very long road ahead, full of a lot of complicated, new and unexpected things. Over the next few months, Jo is going to need a lot of support. She's growing something and you two will be embarking on this journey together on top of learning how to navigate raising a couple of five-year olds. Remember to love her and be patient. Teach the kids to love her and be patient as well. I cannot wait until you discover all of the wonderful things in store for you and your family. And if you ever need a babysitter, I guess I could offer my services (Don't let anyone else know that I offered that because I will deny it)._

_With Love,_

_Miranda Bailey_

Alex smiled at Bailey's letter. It was almost as if he could hear her saying those words aloud. He put that one in his pocket next to the other one and began to walk towards the ER. Bailey's letter reminded him of a conversation he had with Jo before he left.

_“Oh! I wanted to ask you, how long do you think you’ll be gone? I know you didn’t buy a return ticket yet because you won’t know the situation until you get there, but I have something exciting... that I’m... doing and I want to share it with you, but once I tell you, you might not want to leave.”_

_Alex’s face grew somber, “I don’t know when I’ll be back exactly. Depends on how things go over there... why don’t you just tell me now?”_

_“Like I said, this thing is so exciting and you’re gonna be so happy for me that you’re gonna want to celebrate and help me prepare for it. But your family needs you, so go and see them and come back quickly so I can share my news with you and you can be excited with me and help me see it through,” she beamed._

Now that he thought about it, he still did not know what Jo had been doing. She had been so excited to share it with him and he left for a month without saying a word to her. He felt like the biggest douche in the world. Bailey was right, Jo was a saint and deserved so much better than what he had been giving in the past few months. He had been distant and uninterested and stressed. He wanted to run to her and go ask what it was that she had been working on all this time. He wanted to ask what he could do to help her while she was in the hospital and complete whatever it was that she needed help with.

Instead of going to talk to his wife though, he was stuck in the OR performing surgery on a fifteen year-old boy that decided that it would be funny if he filmed a video of himself running into an unstable structure to prove that he was brave to a bunch of his buddies. Alex was guiding one of the residents—Glasses—on the ex-lap that they were performing.

"Okay, Schmitt. I need you to be really careful right here. Don't touch anything you aren't supposed to touch. We don't need his mom yelling and accusing us of anything. She was extremely high-strung and agitated. Let's get her kid out of this without any complications," Alex warned.

"Got it," Levi smiled. "I saw Jo earlier this morning. She looks really good. She was smiling and watching a movie with the kids."

"Why is it that I feel like I'm the only person who hasn't gotten a chance to see my wife today?" Alex grumbled. "It's almost noon and every time I go to try and visit her, someone interrupts me. On top of that, I keep trying and failing to locate Meredith."

"Oh, Dr. Grey? I saw her working with Dr. Pierce in OR 3 before we came in here," Levi shared.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Alex demanded.

"Didn't know you were looking for her," Levi shrugged. He debated saying something that had been on his mind for a while now but had never had the chance—or the courage—to vocalize. Deciding that it was now or never, Levi spoke. "Listen, I know that you're my boss, but I consider Jo a friend, and what you did to her the past month was so crappy. And I know this probably isn't my place to say anything because you had your reasons for what you did, but just don't ever do it again. She was so worried and stressed and did not deserve any of what you did to her. Things are different now because you've got kids to take care of, but trust me when I tell you that if you ever pull something like that again, I will not hesitate to choose her side."

Surprised at the typically reserved resident's outburst, Alex nodded in understanding, "I hear you loud and clear. For what it's worth I'm glad Jo has people like you on her side."

After scrubbing out from that surgery, Alex got a call from UNOS that one of his patients on the transplant list had just received a heart. He paged Maggie Pierce and went over to prep his patient. Walking back to the OR floor, he sees Maggie putting new boot covers on, “Hey! You ready for our heart transplant?”

“Yes,” Maggie smiled. “I love being able to give a sick kid a new heart.”

“You were just in surgery with Mer, right?” Alex asked. “Do you know where she’d going after this? I’ve been trying to find her all day.”

“Nope,” Maggie shook her head. “I’m pretty sure she has a few more surgeries scheduled for today, so it might be a while.”

“Okay, whatever, let’s just go scrub in,” Alex sighed.

About halfway through the procedure, Maggie decided to change the subject of their conversation from light-hearted things, to more serious things. Maggie took a deep breath, “You know, I think everyone is very pleased with Jo’s progress in the past two weeks. I was worried when they first brought her in. The damage was so bad that I didn’t think she or the… I didn’t think she’d make it. We tried like hell though, and she made it through. Not without complications, though. We were so happy to find out that you were alive and on your way home, because I don’t think anyone would’ve wanted to make the decisions that would’ve had to have been made, had she not woken up.”

“I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if things would’ve gone south and I wasn’t here,” Alex admitted. “I was such an ass. I say I try to be better and that I changed, but have I really changed? I don’t know.”

“You know, I may not have known you as long as Jo, Meredith, or Jackson have, but I do know that you are a good man. Even in the years that I’ve known you, I’ve seen you change and become a better person,” Maggie paused her work to look up at Alex. “You’ve made some wrong choices, but we all do. What matters is that you learn from those choices and decide to be the best version of yourself every single day. Do it for you. Do it for Jo. Do it for your kids. Let them see what it’s like to have parents that are all-in.”

Alex nodded, “I will.”

After they were done, Maggie stopped to pull something out of her lab coat that was hanging in the scrub room, “Oh! By the way, Amelia and Link asked me to give these to you. Something about a letter.”

“Thanks,” Alex said, taking the letters into his hands. These were the third and fourth letters he’d received today. Alone in the privacy of the scrub room, Alex decided to read them.

_Karev,_

_They told us to write you these letters about parenting, but I’m not a parent yet so what the hell do I know? What I do know, is that ever since I met you, your heart beat for Jo. You were loving and protective and so attentive to every single little thing about her. For the past seven years, it’s just been you two, and now it’s not. Now you’ve got kids to take care of, and I know it might seem impossible to juggle, but don’t give up on Jo to be there for your kids. Be the guy I met a year ago who would look for her anywhere he went and talk about her whenever he got the chance. There are things that she has bubbling underneath the surface that she hasn’t told you yet, but she should. And she will soon. So, stick around, communicate better, and never forget that she’s the reason you are who you are today._

_Sincerely,_

_Link_

_Alex,_

_You my friend, are special. I didn’t think we’d be as close as we are now, but look at us. When I shared with you about my son Christopher, I never thought we’d be here; becoming parents at the same time, going through all the wonderful and scary firsts together. It's insane to think of how far you and I have come in the years we’ve known each other. One of the reasons of think we get along to well is because you and I are both kind of a mess. We do things impulsively and in many cases, without thinking. But we need to change. We're no longer responsible just for ourselves. We have these little lives to take care of and nurture. They are going to depend on us to do absolutely everything for them. To clothe them, feed them, bathe them, love them. It’s such a new and unfamiliar concept. I'm excited that I'll be able to share all of these moments and new experiences with you. You have truly become the brother I needed after I lost Derek, so thank you and go be a kick-ass father._

_With Love,_

_Amelia Shepherd_

Alex really wanted to find out who had the idea to write him letters. It was a touching notion, but if anything, reading all of these letters encouraging him to be a good husband and father just made him miss his wife and kids even more. It was five in the afternoon and he still hadn't had enough free time to go over to Jo's hospital room and visit her. Alex debated foregoing the scavenger hunt and just going to see Jo and the kids, but immediately felt guilty for thinking that, so he decided to go look for Meredith for the next clue.

He wandered around the hospital for about half an hour when he finally found Meredith sitting on a bench outside the ER. Alex let out a frustrated sigh, "Dude, where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you for all day long."

"Oh, calm down. Don't get your panties in a twist," Meredith rolled her eyes. "Have you enjoyed your letters today?"

"You know about that?" Alex asked.

"Uh huh," Meredith nodded. "I thought about writing you one myself, but I don't think I could fit all the reasons that you shouldn't be an idiot and ways you could improve in one letter, so I think you and I will just have many frequent talks in person."

"Whatever, yeah I know. Don't be an ass. Just give me the next clue."

"Fine, geez. You're really pissy today," Meredith commented as she handed over an envelope. "Here, read it."

_One step closer_

_Just one more move_

_Please don’t give up_

_You’re in the groove_

_Come and find us_

_Your mischievous pair_

_We anxiously await you_

_With your Princess so fair_

"You've got to be kidding me," Alex scoffed. "Jo and the kids? I've been running around the hospital looking for you all day only to find out you were gonna tell me to go see my wife and kids?”

"Hey don't hate the messenger," Meredith replied. "Stop complaining. Come on, let's go see Jo."

In her hospital room, Jo received a text from Meredith stating that she and Alex were on their way. Jo looked up at Amber, "Amber! They're on their way here. Tell everyone to come inside."

Within minutes, the room filled with their friends and family. Helen walked in with the twins that had on T-shirts underneath their jackets that said, _Just Got Upgraded To Big Sibling_. Bailey, Webber, and Jackson walked in, with Cristina and Arizona waiting on Facetime. Amelia, Link, and Maggie ushered into the room followed by Levi and Helm. The anticipation and excitement were palpable in the room.

Finally, Meredith led Alex into Jo's hospital room. Alex scrunched his face in confusion seeing that the room was full of people, "Oh, so you guys keep me busy all day, but come in here and hang out without me?"

"Yeah. Pretty much," Amelia shrugged.

"Hey, babe," Alex turned to his wife. "I was told I needed to come here to retrieve a clue."

Jo grinned and motioned for the kids to come over. The twins were careful to keep their shirts covered by their jackets as they walked closer. Eli was bouncing up and down with excitement as the handed the envelope to his father, "Here you go, Daddy!"

Alex laughed slightly as he ruffled his son's hair and took the envelope out of his hand. Seeing his kids' so happy and excited made him feel bad for complaining about the scavenger hunt they planned for him that day. Alex smiled as he opened the final clue.

_We keep saying thank you_

_To the stars above_

_Never could we imagine_

_We’d have this much love_

_Though it’s a tall order_

_We’ll do our best_

_Jojo has a secret_

_The words are on our chests_

Alex glanced up at the twins shirts. He saw something about being upgraded on their shirts that didn't quite make sense. He looked at the clue again and felt around for the letters in his pocket and tried to piece the puzzle together. He looked back at Jo and all of his friends waiting excitedly. Finally, a look of confusion crossed his face, “I don’t get it."

"You're kidding, right?" Amelia made a face.

"No... seriously, what is going on guys?" Alex shook his head.

“Oh my God,” Jo exclaimed. “You’re an idiot. I married a moron. Did you leave half of your brain in Kansas?”

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

Eli face palmed and Alexis rolled her eyes before saying what everyone had been waiting to hear, “Daddy!! Look at our shirts!! Josie’s gonna have a baby!”

Alex’s jaw dropped, turning to face Jo with a look of stunned wonderment, “You’re pregnant?"

“You knocked me up, dummy,” Jo shook her head.

Alex’s eyes widened and grew teary, “We’re having a baby.”

Jo gave him a watery smile, “Yes, you dumbass. We’re having a baby.”

Jo found herself being pulled into a hug as the crowd of friends and family cheered for them. Alex lifted the bedsheet covering her midsection and looked in awe as he actually saw the small bump for what is was. He carefully placed his hand on her stomach, trying to avoid her stitches, “So it isn’t just post-op edema?! You’re showing! How far along are you?”

She looked over at Meredith who mouthed, _this is all you_. Addressing the crowd, Meredith announced, “Maybe we should give them some privacy. Let’s go. Eli and Lex, you two come with us.”

Jo waited for everyone to leave before she turned back to Alex, “Sixteen weeks.”

“WHAT?” Alex was shocked. “When did—how long have you known?”

She cringed, “Since a couple days before you left.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew if I told you, you’d stay,” Jo looked down at her hands. “You would drop everything for me and our baby, but you said your family needed you. So, when Meredith told me that my blood test was positive, I decided to wait until you got back. You were only going to be gone a week….” Though she had rehearsed the timeline in her head, Jo’s voice stuttered and suddenly she fought back tears. After a few measured deep breaths she continued. “You never came back, though. So, I did it all with Mer. She went with me to my appointments and was there for my first ultrasound. She and Amelia gave me some maternity clothes that I can use when the bump grows. I tried to keep it a secret because, you should’ve been the first to know. You should’ve been there for all of it, laughing and crying with me. But apparently, I suck at keeping my mouth shut when it comes to the baby, because pretty soon everyone knew. I was going to tell you as soon as I woke up that first night, but then you told me about Izzie and the kids. I didn’t want to dump a third kid on you so soon.”

Alex shook his head as a few fat tears rolled down his face, “We are such idiots… I’m such an idiot”

“Yeah,” Jo laughed.

Alex stared at her for a minute and then carefully wrapped his large calloused hand around her dainty one. He kissed her fingers one by one and then placed his other hand on her growing abdomen. With a melancholy sigh he whispered “Oh, Jo. You really have no idea how much I love you.”

“I love you more,” she smiled as she wiped the tears from his cheeks.

“Impossible,” Alex scoffed. Following up with a bright grin—one of the ones he only reserved for her—and tenderly kissed her swollen belly. “And I already love this kid more than life itself.”

They spent a few more moments alone in blissful embrace before Mer poked her head in. Getting the go-ahead she ushered their friends and family around Jo’s bedside. Alex looked around at their faces, “So you all really knew about this before me?”

Bailey rolled her eyes, “We sure did.”

“Literally everyone knew before you,” Jackson chuckled. “Even your kids.”

“Hey it’s only fair, considering I was practically the last one to find out about the twins,” Jo deadpanned.

“Yeah I deserve that,” Alex grimaced. He began to laugh softly, transitioning into full-out belly-aching laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Meredith asked.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Alex took a deep breath to steady himself, “It’s just… back in November I had just legally remarried my wife, had no kids, and was starting back up here at Grey Sloan. Now I’ve come back from Kansas with two kids and one on the way. This just doesn’t happen in real life. I never knew I could be this happy.”

“My sweet boy,” Helen smiled and placed a hand on his cheek. “You deserve all of this and more.”

The doctors lingered as long as they could, before having to get back to work. It was amazing having everyone around. It felt like for once, everything was right in the world. After some time, Helen and Amber said their goodbyes, since they would be traveling back to Iowa and Oregon, respectively. By the time night rolled around, it was just Jo, Alex, and the twins—who requested a sleepover with their “Josie” and “baby bubs.” The kids had fallen asleep on cots that a couple of the nurses brought in a few hours ago. Alex had climbed in next to Jo, being careful with her still healing injuries. His hand was rubbing small circles on her belly and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Jo broke the silence.

“For what?” Alex asked.

“For this,” Jo motioned to her belly and the kids sleeping in the corner. “When I was kid, I never thought I’d have this. But you came into my life and loved me. You changed me. Forever. You made me feel worthy of love and affection and attention. You gave me all of you, and you never once took it back. Even when we weren’t together, I knew that your heart was mine, and mine was yours. You have given me the best gift I could’ve ever hoped for, a family. And I will spend the rest of my life showing you how grateful I am for every single moment we have together.”

Alex kissed her deeply and smiled, “You know… I always pictured us having way too many kids and being a family but I have to say, I didn’t think it would be like this.”

“Neither did I,” Jo replied. “But I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.”

“Me neither.”

“We definitely need a bigger house,” Jo reminded.

“Shit... I hadn’t even thought about it. I should’ve never sold Mer her house back,” Alex mumbled.

“No way. We’d never fit in there,” Jo shook her head. “We already have three kids, and what if we have more?”

“How many more exactly do you want?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know,” Jo shrugged. “Maybe two more?”

“Five! You want five kids?” Alex placed his hand over his chest.

“Why not? We’d have our own basketball team,” Jo grinned.

“You are insane,” Alex laughed. “Maybe one more.”

“We’ll talk again in a year or two,” Jo smirked. “Maybe by then I would’ve changed your mind. Or gotten pregnant on accident because we definitely conceived this baby on Halloween as karma for me freaking you out and telling you that I was pregnant.”

“Ah you see. That’s what happens when you mess around with stuff like that. You have a karma baby,” Alex hummed. “If you really want five kids... we can figure out a way to make it work.”

“Wow. You are so whipped,” Jo let out a huff of laughter. “I don’t want five kids. That’s crazy. Three is great and maybe one more if we’re feeling ambitious.”

“Oh, thank God,” Alex let out sigh of relief. “I was a little worried there. You know if you asked me for the moon, I’d find a way to get it to you."

“Yeah, I know,” Jo smiled. "I can't believe we're parents!"

"We sure are," Alex shook his head in disbelief. "And we're gonna be kick-ass parents, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU all so much for coming on this journey with me. It's been so much fun writing this story. I do plan on eventually adding an epilogue, but that probably will not happen anytime soon, just because I have tons of other fics in the works. But... hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to bring the entire series to a close. Love you tons and don't forget to follow me on tumblr @iamtrebleclefstories and FOLLOW THE GROUPCHAT @jolexgroupchat for more content and to send us all your prompts!


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